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EDITED   BY 

WILLIAM  T.  HARRIS,  A.M.,  LL.D. 


Volume  XXXIV. 


INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES. 

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THE  INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES  was  projected  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  together  in  orderly  arrangement  the  beet  writings,  new  and 
old,  upon  educational  subjects,  and  presenting  a  complete  course  of  reading  and 
training  for  teachers  generally.  It  is  edited  by  William  T.  Harris,  LL.  L\, 
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VOLUMES  NOW  READY. 

1.  The  Philosophy  of  Education.     By  Johann  K.  F.  Rosenkranz.  Doc- 

tor of  Theology  and  Processor  of  Philosophy,  University  of  KOnigsberg. 
Translated  by  Anna  C.  Brackett.  Second  edition,  revised,  with  Coni- 
mentary  and  complete  Analysis.    $1.50. 

2.  A  History  of  Education.     By  F.  V.  N.  Painter,  A.M.,  Professor  of 

Modern  Languages  and  Literature,  Roanoke  College,  Va.    $1.50. 
3    The  Kise  and  Early  Constitution  of  Universities.      With  a  Sur- 
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the  Institutes  and  History  of  Education,  University  of  Edinburgh.    $1-50. 

4.  The  Ventilation  and  Warming  of  School  Buildings.    By  Gilbert 

B.  Morrison,  Teacher  of  Physics  and  Chemistry,  Kansas  City  High  School. 
$1.00. 

5.  The  Education  of  Man.    By  Friedrich  Froebel.     Translated  and  an- 

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La  Porte,  Ind.    $1.50. 

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7.  The  Senses  and  the  Will.     (Part  I  of  "The  Mind  of  the  Child .") 

By  W.  Preter,  Professor  of  Physiology  in  Jena.  Translated  by  H.  W. 
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8.  Memory:   What  it  is  and   How   to  Improve   it.      By  David  Kat, 

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Child.")  By  W.  Preyer,  Professor  of  Physiology  in  Jena.  Translated  by 
H.  W.  Brown.    $1.50. 

10.  How  to  Study  Geography.      A   Practical  Exposition  of  Methods  and 

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15.  School  Supervision.     By  J.  L.  Pickard,  LL.  D.    $1.00. 

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17.  Essays  on  Educational  Keformers.       By  Robert  Herbert  Quicki 

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18.  A  Text-Book  in  Psychology.  By  Johann  Friedrich  Hkrbart.    Trans- 

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THE  INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES.— (Continued.) 

19.  Psychology  Applied  to  the  Art  of  Teaching.    By  Joseph  Baldwin, 

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20.  Rousseau's  Emile ;   or,  Treatise  on  Education.    Translated  and  an- 

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21.  The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children.    By  Felix  Adler.    $1.50. 

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24.  Mental  Development    of  the   Child.      By  W.  Preter,  Professor  of 

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25.  How  to  Study  and  Teach  History.     By  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D., 

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26.  Symbolic  Education.    A  Commentary  on  Froebel's  "  Mother-Play." 

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33.  The  Psychology  of  Number,  and  its  Application  to  Methods  of 

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34.  Teaching  the  Language- Arts.      Speech,  Reading.  Composition.    By 

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and  CoMSCiorsNESg.  Bv  Gabp.iel  Compayre.  Translated  from  the 
French  by  Mary  E.  Wilson.    $1.50. 

36.  Herbart's  A  B  C  of  Sense-Perception,  and  Introductory  Works 

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37.  Psychologic  Foundations  of  Education.    By  William   T.  Harris, 

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41.  Froebel's    Educational    Laws    for    all    Teachers.     By   James   L. 

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44.  Education  by  Development.     By  Friedrich  Froebel.    Translated  by 

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other  volumes  in  preparation. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES 


TEACHING 
THE   LANGUAGE -ARTS 


SPEECH,  READING,  COMPOSITION 


BY 

B.  A.  HINSDALE,  Ph.D.,  LL.  D. 

PROFESSOR   OF  THE  SCIENCE   AND   THE  ART   OF   TEACHING   IN  THE 

UNIVERSITY    OF   MICHIGAN 

AUTHOR  OF   PRESIDENT  GARFIELD  AND   EDUCATION;    SCHOOLS  AND   STUDIES  J 

THE    OLD    NORTHWEST  ;    THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT  ;    HOW    TO 

STUDY  AND  TEACH   HISTORY  ;   JESUS  AS   A  TEACHER  ; 

AND    EDITOR    OF    THE    WORKS    OF    JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLE TON    AND    COMPANY 

1900 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


Electrotyped  and  Printed 
at  the  appleton  press,  u.  s.  a. 


EDITOE'S  PKEFACE. 


The  author  of  this  volume  has,  in  the  course  of  his 
discussion  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching  the  lan- 
guage-arts, thrown  light  incidentally  upon  the  teaching 
of  all  the  other  branches  in  the  course  of  study.  He  has 
drawn  judiciously  upon  the  vast  literature  of  his  subject, 
and  enriched  his  book  with  insights  and  keen  observa- 
tions from  Aristotle  and  Quintilian  in  Greek  and  Roman 
times  down  to  Spencer  and  Lowell  of  our  own  day.  The 
book  is  in  this  respect  a  collection  of  fine  thoughts  on 
language — its  use,  its  growth,  the  study  of  its  mechanics, 
its  grammatical  and  logical  structures,  the  order  of  mas- 
tering its  use  in  speaking,  reading,  and  writing — first  in 
the  primary,  next  in  the  grammar  school,  and  after  in  the 
high  school  and  college ;  its  place  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  powers  of  thought,  the  study  of  literary  works  of  art, 
the  significance  of  philology  among  the  sciences. 

In  following  his  discussions,  the  reader  will  do  well  to 
ponder  carefully  the  distinction  made  by  the  author  in 
the  second  chapter  between  the  mechanism  or  technique 
and  the  theory  of  the  language-arts;  also  the  array  of 
facts  drawn  from  child  study  in  Chapters  IV,  V,  and  VI 
relating  to  the  ideas  in  possession  of  the  child  at  six  years 
of  age,  and  to  what  he  acquires  and  can  acquire  through 
imitation. 

The  author  is  at  great  pains  to  discriminate  the  me- 


£5622 


vi  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

chanical  and  technical  aspects  of  language  study  from  its 
higher  use3  for  guidance,  culture,  and  discipline,  and  to 
give  each  its  due  place.  The  mastering  of  the  mechanical 
and  technical  phases  performs  the  great  good  of  placing 
the  child  in  relation  to  the  repositories  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  race  so  that  he  can  use  them.  But  it  is  their  use,  and 
not  the  mere  possession  of  skill  to  use,  that  enables  him 
to  understand  and  interpret  the  world,  and  to  penetrate 
the  motives  of  human  nature  that  govern  the  conduct  of 
his  fellow-men. 

In  Chapters  VII,  VIII,  IX,  X,  and  XIII  this  higher 
function  of  literature  is  brought  out.  The  prevalent 
tendency  to  magnify  the  means  rather  than  the  end  to  be 
accomplished  leads  frequently  in  school  to  the  error  of 
using  so  much  of  the  pupil's  time  in  preparing  to  read — 
that  is,  in  mere  formal  reading,  the  calling  of  the  words 
found  in  lessons  written  in  the  colloquial  style — that  little 
opportunity  is  left  for  the  practice  of  the  art  by  reading 
the  great  literary  works  of  art.  But  this  error  should  not 
be  corrected  by  the  opposite  extreme — namely,  by  offering 
the  pupil  in  his  immature  years  the  solidest  productions 
of  prose  and  poetry  and  neglecting  all  formal  studies  with 
dictionaries,  grammars,  and  spelling  books.  There  are 
many  impractical  people  who  would  throw  away  these 
formal  studies  and  hope  to  change  the  child  mind  into  a 
mature  mind  at  once. 

The  discussion  of  the  practice  of  paraphrasing  in 
Chapter  VIII  places  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  It  is 
only  by  paraphrasing  the  text  of  the  great  author — ex- 
plaining its  meaning  in  his  (the  pupil's)  own  words — 
that  the  pupil  can  prove  to  his  teacher  that  he  under- 
stands it.  The  teacher  in  turn  can  show  the  felicities  of 
the  great  writer  best  by  comparison  with  the  pupil's  ver- 
sion, bringing  out  the  superiority  of  the  former  in  words 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  vii 

and  diction.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  literary 
genius  invents  happy  modes  of  expression  for  thoughts 
and  feelings  which  were  hitherto  unutterable  or  inarticu- 
late in  the  soul.  The  pupil  in  studying  such  gems  of 
expression  learns  at  once  the  thought  or  feeling  and  its 
happiest  conveyance  in  words — he  thinks  and  feels  and 
expresses  for  himself  what  the  poet  has  taught  him.  But 
paraphrasing,  if  used  in  any  way  except  to  verify  the 
pupil's  understanding  of  the  author  and  for  teaching  him 
the  value  of  the  words  and  diction  used  as  compared  with 
his,  the  pupil's  own  attempts,  is  mostly  wasted  time. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  much  so-called  "  lan- 
guage-study "  in  our  schools  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  the  pupil  how  to  write  or  compose  with  facility. 
He  has  been  set  at  work  writing  numerous  commonplace 
sentences  about  commonplace  things.  The  result  of  this 
language-study  has  been  described  not  inaptly  as  "  gab- 
ble." The  practice  is  a  better  one  if  it  requires  the 
pupils  to  write  out  in  a  connected  manner  what  they  have 
learned,  say,  on  the  occasion  of  a  weekly  written  examina- 
tion, or,  still  better,  to  write  out  their  ideas  gained  by 
reading  and  studying  literary  models.  The  dignified  con- 
tent requires  a  dignified  form.  To  write  commonplace 
ideas  in  choice  language  always  borders  on  the  ridiculous. 

On  entrance  into  school  at  the  age  of  six  or  seven 
years,  the  child  knows  only  the  words  and  forms  of  dic- 
tion of  the  colloquial  vocabulary.  He  has  before  him  the 
hard  task  of  mastering  the  new  method  of  expressing 
words — that  of  script  and  printing;  heretofore  he  has 
known  words  only  as  addressed  to  his  ear.  It  is  obviously 
the  true  method  to  teach  him  first  the  printed  or  written 
forms  of  colloquial  words  only — words  already  familiar  to 
his  ear.  As  soon,  however,  as  this  first  mechanical  stage 
can  be  passed,  the  pupil  should  begin  the  work  on  the 


yiii  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

literary  pieces.  Each  literary  author  has  peculiarities  of 
style,  and  draws  words  from  the  vocabulary  outside  of  the 
colloquial  list.  He  makes  those  partly  unfamiliar  words 
perform  miracles  of  expression.  The  child  should  go  on 
mastering  one  after  another  the  one  hundred  or  more 
pieces  of  fine  writing  which  are  generally  to  be  found 
selected  and  edited  for  the  school  readers,  although  often 
mingled  with  other  "  pieces  "  that  are  of  inferior  merit. 
The  teacher  can,  by  a  judicious  use  of  books  prepared  for 
home  reading,  make  the  short  selection  in  the  reader  an 
introduction  to  the  reading  of  the  whole  work  of  literary 
art  at  home.  A  discussion  of  Gulliver's  Lilliput  or  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake  will  be  a  very  profitable  exercise  in 
school  after  several  pupils  have  read  the  entire  work. 

Dr.  Hinsdale  has,  in  Chapter  XV,  noted  the  fact  that 
the  teaching  of  English  literature  in  our  schools  has  be- 
gun hitherto  with  its  history.  It  has  been  not  a  study  of 
literature  so  much  as  a  study  about  literature.  It  is  hoped 
that  this  evil  is  in  process  of  removal. 

W.  T.  Harris. 

Washington,  D.  C,  April  20,  1S96. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


Since  this  work  was  written,  and  since  much  of  it  was 
put  in  type,  the  teaching  of  English  in  the  schools  of  the 
country  has  once  more  been  brought  prominently  to  the 
public  attention.  Reference  is  made  to  the  late  Report 
of  the  Committee  on  Composition  and  Rhetoric  to  the 
Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College,  and  the  comments 
that  it  has  called  out  in  the  press.*  Remarks  on  the 
present  state  of  English  teaching  will  be  found  scattered 
through  the  following  pages,  but  it  seems  desirable  in 
this  preface  to  take  a  broader  view  of  the  subject.     The 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Composition  and  Rhetoric  to  the 
Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College  (1892). 

The  Classics  and  Written  English,  C.  F.  Adams,  Harvard  Grad- 
uates' Magazine,  vol.  i,  p.  177. 

The  Root  of  the  Evil,  W.  W.  Goodwin,  Harvard  Graduates' 
Magazine,  vol.  i,  p.  189. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Composition  and  Rhetoric  to  the 
Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College,  April,  1895. 

College  English,  The  Nation,  September  26,  1895,  p.  219. 

School  English,  W.  W.  Goodwin,  The  Nation,  October  24,  1895, 
p.  291. 

School  English,   C.  F.  Adams,   The  Nation,  October  31,   1895, 
p.  309. 

College  English,  Caskie  Harrison,  The  Nation,  October  31,  1895, 
p.  310. 

A  Plea  for  the  Study  of  Latin  Grammar,  X,  The  Nation,  Novem- 
ber 21,  1895,  p.  362. 

ix 


x  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

new  report  from  Harvard,  like  the  former  one  of  the 
same  committee,  is  not  devoted  to  the  broad  subject  of 
teaching  English,  but  to  the  narrow  subject  of  teaching 
composition.     My  own  remarks  will  be  similarly  limited. 

The  main  fact  that  is  pressed  home  by  the  first  re- 
port and  reaffirmed  by  the  second  one  is,  that  as  the  Eng- 
lish department  at  Harvard  "  is  organized,  under  the  ex- 
isting standards  of  examination,  the  college  seems  com- 
pelled, during  the  Freshman  year,  to  do  a  vast  amount  of 
elementary  educational  work  which  should  be  done  in  the 
preparatory  schools."  And  this  view  seems  to  be  gener- 
ally accepted. 

The  impression  that  has  been  made  upon  many  minds, 
to  the  effect  that  the  Harvard  authorities  hold  college 
preparation  in  English  now  inferior  to  what  it  was  for- 
merly, has  no  support  in  the  documents.  The  contention 
is  rather  that  the  present  preparation  is  discreditable  to 
the  young  men  who  come  to  Harvard,  and  the  reverse  of 
satisfactory  to  the  schools  from  which  they  come,  but  no 
comparison  with  earlier  times  has  been  made  or  suggested. 
Manifestly  such  a  comparison  would  be  peculiarly  diffi- 
cult to  make  and  of  uncertain  value,  owing  to  the  tend- 
ency of  men  in  adult  life  to  carry  back  into  boyhood 
their  later  ideals  and  standards,  and  thus  to  mislead 
both  themselves  and  others.  It  is  possible  that  prepara- 
tion in  English  for  admission  to  Eastern  colleges  is  in- 
ferior to  what  it  ouce  was,  but  if  the  mass  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  are  not  better  instructed  in  English  than  they 
were  a  half  century  ago  or  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the 
fact  is  very  discouraging,  because  constantly  increased 
attention  has  been  bestowed  upon  it  in  the  schools. 

Men  who  pass  an  intelligent  judgment  on  the  college 
preparation  of  Freshmen  must  first  answer  the  question, 
"  How   much   should   be   expected   of    young   men  and 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xi 

women  at  the  age  of  nineteen  ?  "  In  the  case  of  English 
the  answer  will  be  found  more  difficult  than  in  the  case 
of  most  or  all  of  the  other  studies.  It  is  easy  for  prac- 
tised writers,  like  the  Harvard  Committee  and  Professor 
Goodwin,  far  removed  as  they  are  in  memory  from  their 
own  personal  struggles  to  learn  to  write,  and  far  removed 
also  from  the  practical  teaching  of  English  in  the  schools, 
to  look  for  more  than  can  be  reasonably  accomplished. 
For  example,  after  remarking  that  the  average  student  in 
the  Freshman  class  is  two  years  older  than  formerly,  the 
committee  said  in  its  first  report :  "  It  would  certainly 
seem  not  unreasonable  to  insist  that  young  men  nine- 
teen years  of  age  who  present  themselves  for  a  college 
education  should  be  able  not  only  to  speak,  but  to  write 
their  mother  tongue  with  ease  and  correctness."  Correct- 
ness is  now  the  note  of  English  prose  style.  Further- 
more, "  ease  and  correctness  "  is  a  relative  expression,  and 
one  can  not  tell  just  how  much  the  committee  means  by 
it.  But  if  the  ease  and  correctness  of  the  practised  writer 
is  what  the  committee  has  in  mind,  it  is  much  mistaken. 
The  obvious  parallel  between  speech  and  writing  must 
not  be  unduly  pressed.  The  majority  of  men,  even  edu- 
cated men,  never  become  as  proficient  in  writing  as  they 
do  in  speech.  Perhaps  they  could  attain  to  the  same  pro- 
ficiency if  they  had  the  same  practice  in  the  one  art  as 
in  the  other,  but  this  is  an  impossibility.  The  num- 
ber of  men  called  educated  who  can  not  write  good  Eng- 
lish with  ease,  or  even  at  all,  is  proportionately  large. 
One  could  wish  to  see  a  collection  of  the  verbatim  and 
facsimile  compositions  of  four  or  five  hundred  professional 
men,  including  a  proportional  number  of  college  pro- 
fessors, written  under  circumstances  similar  to  those  that 
attended  the  writing  of  the  exercises  that  are  reproduced 
in  the  two  reports.     There  are  marked  differences  in  per- 


xii  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

sons  ;  but  for  the  average  student  who  goes  to  college  to 
create,  and  then  to  maintain,  anything  that  deserves  to 
be  called  a  style,  is  one  of  the  severest  tests  of  mental  cul- 
tivation. Again,  Professor  Goodwin,  commenting  on  some 
translations  that  he  quotes,  remarks  :  "  There  is  one  charge 
that  can  not  be  brought  against  the  writers.  They  have 
surely  not  neglected  their  English  for  Greek.  They  are 
simply  trying  to  translate  from  one  unknown  tongue  into 
another."  This  remark  suggests  that  translation  is  a  se- 
vere test  of  ability  to  compose.  The  translator  carries  on 
a  double  struggle  :  one  is  to  get  at  the  thought  of  the  origi- 
nal, the  other  to  express  this  thought  in  the  vernacular. 
It  has  often  been  remarked  that  translations  by  great 
poets  are  inferior  to  their  original  work.  Translations 
should  indeed  be  held  up  to  Professor  Goodwin's  test,  but 
many  a  schoolboy  has  found  that  either  one  of  the  two 
struggles  involved  a  sufficient  tax  upon  his  powers. 

So  much  it  has  seemed  wise  to  say  by  way  of  moder- 
ating exaggerated  ideas  of  schoolboy  English ;  but  the 
fact  still  remains  that  the  English  of  the  college  Fresh- 
man is  bad.  Professor  Goodwin  scouts  the  idea  that  the 
preparatory  schools  that  send  pupils  to  Harvard  have  sin- 
gled out  the  mother  tongue  for  neglect  and  contempt. 
Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth  than  to  think 
that  the  neglect  of  English  is  justified  by  the  high  stand- 
ard of  scholarship  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics.  "  A 
similar  test  applied  to  any  other  department,"  he  says, 
"  would  disclose  a  state  of  things  in  the  lower  ranks  of 
scholarship  which  would  be  proportionally  disreputable." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  average  American  student 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  brought  up  in  the  secondary  schools, 
is  as  much  behind  the  English  or  Continental  student  of 
the  same  age  in  ability  to  compose  in  his  mother  tongue 
as  he  is  in  ability  to  perform  other  scholastic  work.     Pro- 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xiii 

fessor  Goodwin  says  that  boys  of  that  age  who  come  to 
Harvard  College  in  most  cases  "  are  barely  prepared  to 
pass  an  examination  which  boys  of  sixteen  or  seventeen 
would  find  easy  work  in  England,  Germany,  France,  or 
Switzerland."  He  says,  further,  that  at  "Westminster 
School,  London,  boys  of  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  are  study- 
ing Homer,  iEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristophanes, 
Lysius,  Plato,  Lucretius,  Terence,  Horace,  Cicero,  St. 
Augustine,  St.  Cyril,  with  algebra,  trigonometry,  conic 
sections,  statics,  and  dynamics."  Much  of  this  work  is  not 
required  for  admission  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  but  it  all 
counts  for  honours.  The  Professor  says  further :  "  There 
is  no  hope  of  a  substantial  change  for  the  better  until  the 
elementary  studies  which  now  occupy  the  time  from  fifteen 
to  nineteen  are  put  back  where  they  belong,  so  that  young 
men  can  devote  themselves  in  earnest  to  studies  which 
belong  to  their  age."  From  this  point  of  view,  therefore, 
the  question,  Why  is  the  English  teaching  in  the  secondary 
schools  bad  ?  is  expanded  into  the  broader  one,  Why  is  our 
secondary  education  as  a  whole  bad  ? 

This  question  has  been  much  discussed  the  last  few 
years,  and  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that,  in  large  part,  the  trouble  lies  below  the  sec- 
ondary-school level.  The  Harvard  Committee  and  Pro- 
fessor Goodwin  tend  to  excuse  the  secondary  teachers  from 
blame  for  the  bad  preparation  of  students  for  college. 
The  trouble,  they  say,  is  with  the  "system."  This  is  ex- 
tending the  investigation  to  the  elementary  schools,  which 
leads  to  the  remark  that  the  shortening  and  enrichening 
of  the  elementary  course  has  been  a  favourite  topic  at 
educational  meetings  and  in  educational  journals  for  some 
time  past.  I  shall  set  down  very  briefly  what  appear  to 
me  to  be  the  principal  reasons  why  the  American  boy 
of  nineteen,  considered  as  a  scholar,  is  two  years  in  the 


xiv  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

rear  of  the  German,  French,  or  English  boy  of  the 
same  age. 

1.  The  courses  of  study  that  lead  French  and  German 
boys  to  the  university  have  been  brought  to  a  high  degree 
of  perfection.  The  studies  have  been  so  selected  and 
so  co-ordinated  that  time  is  saved  all  along  the  line. 
For  example,  in  the  German  gymnasium  Latin  begins  at 
ten  and  Greek  at  twelve,  while  modern  languages  are 
brought  in  at  an  early  stage,  thus  assisting  materially  the 
mastery  of  German.  The  gymnasium  is  not  a  finishing 
school,  but  every  step  from  the  first  one  is  bent  toward 
the  university.  Practically  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
French  and  English  schools.  In  the  United  States,  on 
the  other  hand,  secondary  courses  of  study  have  not  been 
as  well  thought  out  and  tested.  Moreover,  the  double 
function  of  many  of  our  schools,  and  particularly  of  high 
schools,  has  impaired  their  efficiency  in  both  spheres. 
Eeference  is  made,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  these  schools 
are  at  the  same  time  finishing  schools  for  life  and  fitting 
schools  for  college.  To  be  sure,  the  courses  of  study  in- 
tended for  the  two  purposes  more  or  less  vary.  Whether 
this  impairment  of  the  American  school  is  inherent  in  the 
system  or  is  due  to  defective  co-ordination,  need  not  be 
considered  here. 

The  facts  may  be  put  in  another  way.  In  European 
countries  schools  are  based  on  the  existing  social  organiza- 
tion. The  aim  is  to  provide  education  for  those  youths 
who  will  pass  out  of  school  at  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
of  age,  for  those  who  will  pass  out  of  it  at  eighteen  or 
nineteen,  and  for  those  who  are  destined  for  the  higher 
institutions  of  instruction.  These  pupils  are  not  taught 
together  as  far  as  the  first  class  go,  and  the  remainder  are 
not  all  taught  together  as  far  as  the  second  class  go,  but 
to  a  great  extent  are  separate  almost  from  the  time  that 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xv 

they  go  to  school,  and  are  taught  with  reference  to  their 
supposed  destination.  All  kinds  of  pupils  may  be  taught 
together  for  the  first  three  years,  but  this  is  not  neces- 
sarily, or  indeed  commonly,  the  case.  This  is  what  may 
be  called  the  "three-pyramid  plan"  of  organizing  schools. 
"  The  three  courses  of  instruction,"  says  Dr.  Fitch,  "  pri- 
mary, secondary,  and  higher,  may  be  compared  to  three 
pyramids  of  different  sizes,  though  all  in  their  way  sym- 
metrical and  perfect ;  but  you  can  not  take  the  apex  of 
the  larger  pyramid  and  set  it  on  the  top  of  the  smaller. 
You  may  indeed  fit  on,  with  a  certain  practical  conven- 
ience, the  top  of  the  higher  scheme  of  education  to  the 
truncated  system  of  the  lower,  provided  you  go  low 
enough,"  etc.  Our  State  school  systems  are  organized  on 
the  one-pyramid  plan.  The  comparative  merits  of  the  two 
plans  for  general  purposes  is  a  topic  aside  from  the  present 
purpose.  But  the  three-pyramid  plan  has  two  obvious 
advantages.  One  is  that  courses  of  instruction  can  bo 
made  out  with  sole  reference  to  completeness  in  them- 
selves, and  the  other  that  the  abler  pupils,  who  are  the 
ones  destined  for  college  as  a  rule,  are  put  by  themselves, 
and  so  can  move,  even  in  elementary  studies,  at  their  own 
natural  rate  of  speed.  How  far  our  social  conditions  would 
justify  an  attempt  to  reorganize  our  schools  on  this  plan, 
and  how  far  studies  that  are  now  taught  exclusively  in 
the  secondary  schools  can  be  brought  down  into  the  ele- 
mentary grades,  are  very  interesting  questions.  For  one, 
I  look  with  considerable  confidence  to  the  experiments 
now  being  made  in  the  second  direction. 

2.  The  teachers  in  the  foreign  schools,  as  a  class,  are 
superior  to  ours.  They  are  better  prepared  to  do  their 
work,  and  they  do  it  better.  This  preparation  includes 
better  scholarship,  more  distinct  ideals,  and  superior  teach- 
ing ability.  These  teachers  know  just  what  is  expected  of 
2 


xvi  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

them,  and  know  they  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  re- 
sult. It  is  needless  almost  to  refer  to  the  fact  that,  on  an 
average,  they  pursue  their  work  for  a  much  longer  period 
of  time. 

3.  National  tone  is  a  not  unimportant  factor  in  the 
question.  The  industrial,  commercial,  and  political  ten- 
sion of  American  society  is  the  highest  known  in  the 
world.  In  this  respect  we  are  keyed  up  to  the  highest 
note.  But  in  science,  philosophy,  and  literature — that 
is,  in  the  intellectual  sphere  proper — our  tension  is  dis- 
tinctly lower  than  that  of  England,  France,  or  Germany. 
The  average  intelligence  may  be  as  high  in  this  country, 
or  even  higher,  but  our  higher  culture  so  called  is  of  a 
lower  grade.  The  high  intellectual  tension  of  the  edu- 
cated class  abroad  is  felt  in  the  schools.  There  now  lies 
before  me  a  description  of  a  German  gymnasium  written 
by  a  student  of  my  acquaintance  who  passed  through  it, 
and  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  city  in  the  United  States 
where  a  school  with  such  a  regimen  could  be  maintained. 
The  key  is  too  high  for  American  life  as  now  attuned. 

What  has  been  said  about  general  culture  is  particu- 
larly applicable  to  the  language-arts, — speech,  reading, 
and  composition,  which  are  a  very  delicate  test  of  person- 
al cultivation.  I  have  not  hesitated  to  avow  the  opinion 
(page  54)  that  the  relatively  low  standard  of  culture  prevail- 
ing in  the  country,  including  teachers  as  well  as  pupils,  is 
in  large  measure  the  cause  of  the  low  state  of  these  arts 
in  the  schools.  There  is  perhaps  reason  to  think  that  the 
average  cultivation  of  college  students,  including  English, 
is  lower  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  Were  not  college 
students  a  more  select  body  then  than  they  are  now  ?  Did 
they  not  better  represent  the  highest  cultivation  of  the 
country?  Have  not  the  great  increase  of  wealth,  the 
enormous  material  improvements  that  have  been  effected, 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xvii 

and  the  growth  of  population,  together  with  the  democra- 
tizing of  society,  tended  appreciably  to  make  American 
college  students,  as  a  whole,  a  more  heterogeneous  class  of 
persons  ? 

What  is  the  final  conclusion  ?  That  we  should  remain 
satisfied  with  the  teaching,  and  particularly  the  English 
teaching,  as  it  is  to-day  ?  By  no  means.  The  present 
work  has  been  written  in  the  faith  that  improvement  is 
attainable.  Two  or  three  practical  remarks  may  be  made 
on  this  point. 

First.  In  the  following  pages  I  have  laid  constant 
stress  on  imitation  in  teaching  the  language-arts.  Good 
models  are  insisted  upon,  I  fear,  to  the  weariness  of  the 
reader.  Practice  under  suitable  correction  has  also  been 
emphasized.  Remarking  upon  the  proficiency  in  baseball 
and  other  athletic  sports  of  the  boys  who  come  to  Har- 
vard College,  the  committee  asks  how  it  is  acquired,  and 
replies  that  it  does  not  come  by  studying  rules  printed  in 
books  devoted  to  athletic  sports,  or  by  listening  to  lectures 
on  curves  and  the  like,  but  by  practice.  "It  is  only 
through  similar,  daily,  and  incessant  practice,"  says  the 
committee,  "that  the  degree  of  facility  in  writing  the 
mother  tongue  is  acquired,  which  always  enables  the  stu- 
dent or  adult  to  use  it  as  a  tool  in  his  work." 

Secondly.  The  use  of  the  word  "  tool "  suggests  a  se- 
rious defect  in  many  American  schools.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  set  formal  exercises  in  any  art  as  an 
end  in  itself  and  the  habitual  use  of  the  same  art  as  a 
means  or  instrument  to  accomplish  some  other  end.  Mr. 
C.  F.  Adams,  chairman  of  the  committee,  like  many 
others,  has  remarked  the  difference  between  formal  class 
spelling  and  spelling  in  ordinary  writing.  The  same  dis- 
tinction may  be  made  in  respect  to  penmanship  and 
drawing.     How  very  different  the  writing  that  children 


xviii  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

put  in  their  familiar  letters  is  from  the  writing  that  they 
put  in  their  copy-books !  And  the  same  in  composing. 
"  For  want  of  practice,"  says  Mr.  Adams,  "  the  scholar 
does  not  carry  into  his  other  and  daily  work  the  results  of 
his  teaching.  He  can  write  a  formal  composition,  such  as 
it  is ;  he  can  not  render  Greek  or  Latin  into  English." 
This  is  the  crux  of  school  composition.  Nothing  but 
plenty  of  writing,  and  particularly  non-formal  or  extem- 
poraneous writing,  as  in  the  daily  work  of  the  school 
under  a  moderate  tension  of  criticism,  will  transmute  the 
pupil's  specific  skill  into  formal  skill.  How  wide  the  dis- 
tance between  the  set  composition  and  the  extemporane- 
ous composition  of  the  common  pupil  or  student!  We 
need  more  extemporaneous  composition  in  the  schools.  In 
this  respect  the  German  or  the  English  student  is  dis- 
tinctly better  off  than  his  American  cousin. 

The  third  and  last  suggestion  is  that  much  current 
language  teaching  affects  English  composition  unfavour- 
ably. "  Sight  reading,"  which  rests  on  the  assumption 
that  the  student  should  understand  the  author  in  the 
original,  has  for  some  time  been  the  vogue  in  preparatory 
schools.  X  points  out  very  clearly  that  the  revolt  from 
the  grammar  and  dictionary  has  gone  so  far  that  a  posi- 
tive deterioration  of  both  classical  and  English  scholar- 
ship has  often  resulted.  He  says  students  who  come 
to  Harvard,  and  picked  ones,  too,  "  have  not  even  a  con- 
ception of  what  accurate  work  means.  They  have  ob- 
tained by  practice  a  kind  of  knack  of  guessing  at  the 
meaning  of  a  sentence ;  but  in  most  cases  they  see  it 
4  through  a  glass  darkly,'  often  very  darkly."  This  writer 
thinks,  accordingly,  that  some  of  the  emphasis  recently 
given  to  sight  reading  should  be  withdrawn,  and  more 
stress  be  laid  on  thoroughness.  The  traditional  impor- 
tance assigned  to  translation  as  an  English  exercise  may 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xix 

be  exaggerated.  No  doubt  translation  is  sometimes  a 
positive  loss  to  the  pupil's  English  rather  than  a  gain, 
undoing,  owing  to  slipshod  methods,  what  formal  in- 
struction has  done.  Still,  good  translation  is  an  impor- 
tant ally  of  the  English  teacher. 

The  purpose  and  scope  of  the  present  work  are  stated 
in  the  introductory  chapter.  While  nothing  more  is  called 
for  on  that  head,  a  few  words  concerning  its  origin  are 
deemed  pertinent. 

More  than  ten  years  ago,  while  serving  as  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Public  Schools  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  my  at- 
tention was  closely  drawn  to  the  nature  and  relation  of 
speech,  reading,  language  lessons,  composition,  and  lit- 
erature. I  gave  much  thought  to  methods  of  instruction, 
and  particularly  to  the  correlation  of  the  several  lines  of 
teaching.  Afterward,  when  called  to  my  present  position, 
it  became  my  duty  to  give  instruction  on  these  subjects  as 
part  of  a  course  in  the  art  of  teaching.  I  now  came  more 
clearly  to  conceive  of  these  arts  as  a  distinct  group  by 
themselves,  and  to  assign  a  new  importance  to  imitation, 
and  especially  unconscious  imitation,  in  learning  them. 
Thus  there  gradually  grew  up,  within  the  course  referred 
to,  a  series  of  lectures  denominated  Lectures  on  Teach- 
ing the  Language- Arts.  These  lectures,  revised  and  ex- 
tended, comprise  this  work.  Whatever  may  be  its  merits, 
it  has  grown  out  of  practical  experience,  and  has  been 
matured  by  reflection. 

Those  teachers  who  are  abreast  of  the  best  current 
practice  in  the  schools  will  find  nothing  in  the  book  relat- 
ing to  method  that  is  very  novel  or  original.  The  claim 
to  merit  must  rest  on  these  particulars :  First,  the  clear 
conception  and  description  of  speech,  reading,  and  com- 
position as  arts ;  secondly,  the  large  place  assigned  to  use 


XX  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

and  wont,  to  models  and  imitation,  and  the  small  place 
to  reflective  art  in  teaching  them;  and,  thirdly,  the 
grounding  of  the  several  teaching  processes  in  the  funda- 
mental facts  of  human  nature.  In  other  words,  this  is  a 
book  of  principles  illustrated  by  methods  rather  than  of 
methods  illuminated  by  principles.  If  this  claim  be  al- 
lowed, I  do  not  hold  it  to  be  a  slight  merit.  With  noth- 
ing do  the  teachers  of  the  country  stand  in  need  of  closer 
familiarity  than  with  educational  principles.  Principles 
do  not  supersede  methods ;  facts,  rules  ;  theory,  practice ; 
science,  art:  but  principles,  facts,  theory,  and  science 
must,  in  the  long  run,  govern  and  control  all  practical 
applications. 

I  have  not  therefore  sought  to  add  another  to  the  list 
of  "  Lessons  "  and  "  Exercises  "  in  English,  "  Composition 
Books,"  and  the  like,  which  is  already  so  long,  but  rather 
to  show  the  ends  to  which  such  books  should  look,  the 
methods  to  which  they  should  conform,  and  the  reasons 
for  such  conformity.  Exhaustive  treatment  has  not  been 
aimed  at.  The  purpose  has  been  to  confine  the  discussion 
to  schools ;  and  if  much  of  it  has  an  application  to  col- 
leges, as  indeed  it  has,  the  reason  is  that  the  leading 
principles  set  forth  are  unlimited  by  grade  lines,  but  are 
continuous. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  my  friend  Professor  I.  "N.  Dem- 
mon  for  valuable  aid  in  preparing  this  work.  I  have  had 
the  benefit  of  his  criticism  on  many  special  features  of 
the  work,  and,  what  has  been  of  greater  value,  have  en- 
■joyed  repeated  opportunities  to  discuss  the  subject  with 
him  in  its  general  bearings. 

B.  A.  Hinsdale. 

The  University  of  Michigan,  December  14,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Editor's  Preface v 

Author's  Preface ix 

0 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Scope  of  the  Present  Work 1 

The  Lindley  Murray  conception  of  grammar,  1,  2;  Professor 
Greene's  books,  2,  3  ;  the  present  state  of  English  in  the  schools, 
3,  4  ;  aims  of  the  present  work,  4,  5. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Language-Arts  Defined 6 

Science  and  art,  6 ;  two  phases  of  art,  6 ;  the  school  studies  and 
school  arts  discriminated,  7,  8  ;  the  two  phases  of  the  language- 
arts,  9,  10  ;  effects  of  wrong  classification,  10,  11. 

CHAPTER   III. 

The  Vernacular  as  an  Educational  Instrument  .        .        .12 

Language  and  mind,  12-14;  language  a  factor  in  national  culture, 
14, 15  ;  a  factor  in  individual  culture,  15-18  ;  Professor  Laurie  and 
Dr.  Schurman  quoted,  18-20. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Work  of  the  Elementary  School 21 

The  child's  mental  possessions  at  the  age  of  six,  21,  22  ;  the  work 
of  the  primary  teacher,  22-24 ;  authorities  quoted  on  vocabularies 
of  children,  note,  24,  25. 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Origin  of  the  Child's  Knowledge  .  ,     .        .        .        .26 

Fundamental  facts  of  the  mind  stated,  26-28  ;  the  child's  ideas  at 
the  age  of  six  grouped,  28-32. 

xxi 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

The  Origin  of  the  Child's  Language 33 

The  child's  instinctive  vocal  utterance,  33,  34 ;  the  child  uses  his 
voice  to  express  mental  states,  34,  35  ;  the  office  of  imitation,  35- 
39  ;  no  trace  of  rule  or  formal  method,  40  ;  authorities  quoted  on 
imitation,  note,  40-42. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Language-Arts  in  the  Lower  Grades    .        .        .        .43 

Professor  Laurie's  analysis  of  language,  43,  44 ;  child  first  deals 
with  language  as  substance  of  thought,  44,  45  ;  methods  of  in- 
struction: conversations,  stories,  object  lessons,  reading  lessons, 
selections  of  poetry  memorized,  and  written  exercises,  45-50  ;  eth- 
ical value  of  language  lessons,  50,  51 ;  association,  51,  52  ;  rules,  53 ; 
language  agents  classified,  53,  54. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Language-Arts  in   the   Higher   Grades  and  in  the 

High  Schools 55 

Changes  of  school  regimen  to  come  slowly,  55 ;  former  methods 
to  be  employed,  56 ;  copying  and  dictation,  composing  themes, 
paraphrasing,  imitation  of  chosen  models,  and  translation,  56-61  ; 
etymologies,  61-63  ;  history  in  words,  63-65. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Art  of  Reading 66 

The  printed  page,  66,  67  ;  relation  of  the  author  to  his  composition, 
67  ;  the  function  of  the  reader,  67-70. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Reading  and  Mental  Cultivation 71 

Relation  of  reading  to  guidance  studies,  71,  72;  to  disciplinary 
studies,  72,  73 ;  to  culture  studies,  73,  74 ;  to  general  literature, 
74-77  ;  Mr.  Lowell  and  Professor  Norton  quoted,  note,  77,  78. 

CHAPTER  XL 

Requisites  for  Reading 79 

The  threefold  preparation,  79 ;  attention  to  be  paid  to  each  re- 
quirement, 80  ;   Professor  Blackie  on  our  original  knowledge,  80, 


CONTENTS.  xxiii 

PAGE 

81 ;  apperception,  81,  82  ;  the  reader  to  have  one  life  with  the  au- 
thor, 82-85  ;  value  to  the  child  of  acquaintance  with  Nature,  85. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Teaching  Reading  as  an  Art 86 

The  symbolism  of  the  printed  page,  86,  87  ;  the  vocal  values  of  the 
symbols,  87,  88  ;  significance  of  the  symbols,  88-90  ;  reading  not 
at  first  a  source  of  new  ideas,  90,  91 ;  rules,  92  ;  Professors  Dowden 
and  Corson  on  reading  aloud  quoted,  92,  93  ;  Mr.  Elisha  Ticknor 
quoted,  note,  93. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Teaching  Reading  as  Thought 94 

First  teaching  of  reading  an  homogeneous  exercise,  94,  95 ;  the 
work  begins  to  dill'erentiate,  95  ;  the  reading  lesson,  95,  96 ;  the  pu- 
pil's study  of  the  lesson,  96  ;  the  teacher  to  study  with  the  class,  97  ; 
reading  lessons  to  be  connected  with  other  sources  of  cultivation, 
98  ;  the  study  of  definitions,  98-101  ;  testing  pupils,  101-103  ;  re- 
marks on  school  readers  and  the  child's  reading  matter,  103-106  ; 
freedom  and  criticism,  106,  107  ;  illustrative  lessons,  108-111. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Teaching  Composition 112 

The  old  regime,  112;  definition  of  composition  and  its  relations, 
118,  114  ;  difficulty  of  the  art,  114  ;  natural  gifts  and  practice,  115, 
116  ;  practical  suggestions  for  the  teacher :  training  in  language 
lessons,  pupil's  interest  to  be  enlisted,  choice  of  a  subject,  the 
teacher  to  choose  and  assign  subjects,  the  teacher  to  instruct  in 
the  modus  of  composition,  making  outlines,  rules,  and  criticisms, 
117-124 ;  relation  of  thought  material  to  thought  expression,  124, 
125 ;  the  intensive  plan,  125,  126 ;  Dr.  Franklin's  style  and  the 
value  of  the  art  of  composition,  126, 127. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Teaching  English  Literature 128 

The  object  or  aim  to  be  held  in  view,  128  ;  Mr.  Quick's  definition 
of  literature,  128, 129  ;  the  two  aspects  of  literature,  substance  and 
art,  to  be  held  together,  130,  131 ;  subordinate  aspects,  131 ;  false 
ideals,  132-134  ;  Mr.  Hudson's  model,  134, 135  ;  the  subordination 


xxiv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

of  grammar,  philology,  etc.,  to  literary  elements,  136  ;  discursive 
study  and  intensive  study  to  be  combined,  136,  137  ;  literature 
and  recitations,  137,138;  literature  and  examinations,  138,139; 
haste  in  education,  139  ;  history  of  literature,  140  ;  teachers  some- 
times too  ambitious,  141  ;  why  literature  should  be  taught  in  the 
schools,  141, 142. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Function  of  English  Grammar 14T 

Ancient  definition  of  grammar,  147, 148  ;  Murray's  and  Kirkham's 
Grammars,  149  ;  traditionary  view  of  grammar  false,  150  ;  gram- 
mar a  science,  151,  152  ;  causes  that  broke  down  the  authority  of 
the  scholastic  grammar,  153-155  ;  reasons  for  studying  grammar  : 
confers  knowledge  of  the  vernacular,  156  ;  has  disciplinary  value, 
156-158;  is  the  logic  of  speech,  159  ;  influences  practice  through 
mental  activity,  160 ;  relation  of  study  of  grammar  to  use  of  the 
vernacular,  161-165  ;  practical  suggestions  for  teachers,  165-167  ; 
illustrative  exercise,  168-170. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Function  op  Rhetoric 171 

Definitions  quoted,  171-173  ;  rhetoric  a  threefold  study,  174  ;  has 
disciplinary  value,  175 ;  has  culture  value,  176 ;  rules  of  rhetoric 
of  two  kinds,  mechanical  and  psychological,  177  ;  rules  for  punc- 
tuating and  capitalizing,  178  ;  psychological  rules,  176-180 ;  Her- 
bert Spencer's  Essay  on  The  Philosophy  of  Style  quoted,  180, 
181 ;  Professor  Minto  quoted,  182  ;  rhetoric  in  the  high  school, 
183, 184. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Function  of  Criticism 185 

Criticism  a  practical  art,  185  ;  causes  of  the  difficulty  of  the  sub- 
ject, 185-188  ;  the  problem  involves  the  harmonizing  of  criticism 
and  freedom,  188, 189  ;  practical  suggestions  :  early  criticism  must 
rest  on  authority,  189  ;  must  be  repeated,  189  ;  must  be  conducted 
with  reference  to  child's  age  and  progress,  189, 190 ;  teacher  not 
to  expect  too  much,  190  ;  rules  and  reasons  to  be  gradually  intro- 
duced, 190, 191 ;  the  spirit  of  criticism,  191,  192;  many  exercises 
to  pass  without  review,  192;  pupil  to  play  the  critic  of  himself, 
193,  194  ;  the  "  Nature  "  rules  discussed,  194-197. 


CONTENTS.  xxv 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PAGE 

Teachers  op  the  Language-Arts 199 

Qualifications  of  primary  teachers,  199,  200  ;  the  special  teacher 
question,  200 ;  report  of  the  conference  on  English  quoted,  200, 
201  ;  co-operation  of  teachers  and  special  exercises,  201,  202 ; 
qualifications  of  the  teacher  of  literature,  202. 

Bibliography 203 


TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE- ARTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   SCOPE   OF   THE   PRESENT   WORK. 

Lindley  Murray  spoke  in  accordance  with  the  tra- 
dition that  had  been  delivered  to  him  when,  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  he  gave  this  definition:  "English 
grammar  is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  the  English 
language  with  propriety."  It  might  at  first  seem  that, 
starting  with  such  a  definition,  the  learned  author  would 
have  given  the  world  a  practical  rather  than  a  scientific 
book — something  like  the  books  on  Composition  and 
Language  Lessons  that,  in  recent  years,  have  poured  into 
the  schools  like  a  flood.  He  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 
There  could  hardly  be  a  wider  gar)  between  the  definition 
of  a  subject  and  a  treatise  devoted  to  its  discussion  than 
the  gap  which  lies  between  Murray's  definition  and  the 
body  of  his  English  Grammar.  He  first  declares  grammar 
to  be  pure  art  or  practice,  and  then  treats  it  as  pure  science 
or  theory.  The  same  inconsistency  appears  in  all  the 
writers  and  teachers  of  that  period.  The  grammatical 
tradition  that  these  writers  and  teachers  had  received,  was 
not  suffered  to  influence  the  practice  of  the  schools  of  the 
old  regime.  For  example,  the  teachers  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  parsing.     The  better  pupils  became  profi- 

1 


UNIVERSITY 


2  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

cient  in  "  parting  " — that  is,  classifying — words ;  in  declin- 
ing, conjugating,  and  comparing  them ;  in  detecting  and 
pointing  out  "  agreement "  and  "  government,"  and  in 
applying  rules  of  syntax  which,  it  is  fair  to  say,  they  did 
not  half  the  time  at  all  understand.  There  are  many 
persons  still  living  who  went  through  much  or  all  of 
Paradise  Lost  or  the  Essay  on  Man,  or  perchance  The 
Course  of  Time,  in  this  way.  All  this,  it  is  almost  super- 
fluous to  say,  was  purely  theoretical  work.  The  correc- 
tion of  false  syntax,  to  which  much  time  was  given,  was 
the  only  point  at  which  the  pupil  touched  practice  at  all ; 
and  there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that  this  exercise  was 
harmful  quite  as  often  as  it  was  beneficial.  Beyond  this 
little  was  done  in  the  schools  in  the  broad  field  of  what 
we  now  call  "English"  and  the  "study  of  English." 
Below  the  college,  grammar  reigned  supreme.  Essay- 
writing  was  practised  in  some  schools.  Besides  the  exer- 
cises in  reading,  which  were  of  course  important,  no  at- 
tention was  given  to  English  literature,  either  in  the 
schools  or  in  the  colleges. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted,  at  least  by  competent 
authorities,  that  the  Lindley  Murray  view  of  grammar  is 
mainly  false,  and  that  the  subject,  taught  in  the  tradi- 
tionary way,  has  small  practical  value.  No  doubt  the 
scholastic  grammar  was  of  much  benefit  to  many  pupils, 
as  I  shall  point  out  in  a  future  chapter ;  but  here  J  must 
sketch  the  movement  of  ideas  and  the  changes  of  school 
practice  from  the  old  days  of  formal  grammar  down  to 
the  present  time. 

The  first  real  step  forward  was  the  introduction  into  the 
schools  of  sentence  analysis.  Parsing  now  began  to  fall 
into  the  background,  though  by  no  means  as  rapidly  as 
could  have  been  desired.  Professor  S.  S.  Greene  con- 
tributed more  to  this  end  than  any  other  writer  that  can 


THE  SCOPE   OF  THE  PRESENT  WORK.  3 

be  named.  His  books,  and  especially  his  Treatise  on  the 
Structure  of  the  English  Language,  commonly  called 
"  Greene's  Analysis,"  exerted  an  influence  upon  authors 
and  teachers  that  was  both  widespread  and  salutary.  He 
had  the  great  merit  of  giving  prominence  to  synthetic 
or  constructive  work,  limited,  however,  to  sentence-build- 
ing. He  was  the  real  author  of  the  most  generally  ac- 
cepted system  of  analyzing  and  classifying  English  sen- 
tences and  their  component  parts.  In  the  preface  of  his 
Analysis  (1847)  Greene  enumerated  some  of  "  the  numer- 
ous advantages  arising  from  studying  grammar,  or  rather 
language,  through  the  structure  of  sentences  " ;  but  these 
advantages  are  all  of  a  disciplinary  character.  In  the  An- 
alysis he  adheres  to  the  old  definition  of  grammar ;  but 
in  his  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Grammar  (18G7)  he 
frankly  says,  "  English  grammar  treats  of  the  principles 
of  the  English  language." 

Professor  Greene's  books  and  those  modelled  after  them 
prepared  the  way  for  the  next  step  forward.  This  step 
consisted  of  what  are  technically  called  "  Language  Les- 
sons," and  sometimes  merely  "  Language."  These  lessons 
are,  in  fact,  nothing  but  an  expansion  of  the  synthetic 
work  that  has  already  been  mentioned. 

The  appearance  in  the  school  curriculum  of  "  Eng- 
lish" in  the  technical  sense  marks  the  last  movement  along 
this  line  of  study.  The  word  means  sometimes  more  and 
sometimes  less.  In  its  wide  scope  it  includes  language 
lessons,  composition,  Anglo-Saxon  or  Old  English,  for- 
mal and  historical  grammar,  rhetoric,  literature,  and  the 
history  of  literature.  In  its  narrow  scope  it  is  confined 
to  composition  and  literature  and  closely  related  subjects. 

In  no  department  of  study  have  the  schools  recently 
seen  more  dissatisfaction,  more  unrest,  and  more  experi- 
ment than  in  this  one.     Everything  is  in  a  flux :  authors, 


4  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

superintendents,  and  teachers  seem  to  appreciate  that 
something  bearing  the  name  of  English  must  constitute  a 
marked  feature  of  the  schools ;  but  they  do  not,  as  classes 
at  least,  see  clearly  what  it  should  be,  or  how  it  should  be 
taught.  As  a  whole,  the  schools  are  feeling  their  way ; 
as  a  body,  teachers  are  wasting  a  great  deal  of  their  own 
and  their  pupils'  time  and  energy  in  efforts  more  or  less 
aimless  and  misdirected ;  and  there  is  little  probability 
of  the  return  of  that  unity  and  satisfaction  which  so 
strongly  marked  the  Lindley  Murray  regime.  Two  things 
are  clear  :  one  is  that  the  old  regime  can  not  be  brought 
back ;  the  second  is  that  to  teach  English  successfully  re- 
quires a  combination  of  cultivation,  taste,  judgment,  and 
practical  skill  which  is  not  found  in  the  common  teacher 
of  the  subject.  Ability  to  state  with  positiveness  what  an 
ideal  course  should  be,  is  not  necessary  to  qualify  one  to 
affirm  that,  while  there  are  some  good  teachers  and  more 
mediocre  ones,  the  major  part  of  the  English  work  done 
in  schools  at  the  present  time  is  unsatisfactory. 

Reversing  the  order  of  statement,  such  is  the  present 
status  of  English  in  the  schools,  and  such  the  steps  that 
have  led  up  to  it.  This  account  has  not  been  given  be- 
cause of  any  historical  interest  or  value  that  it  may  pos- 
sess, but  rather  as  an  introduction  to  a  statement  of  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  the  present  work.  These  are  as 
follows : — 

1.  To  state  fully  and  illustrate  clearly  the  principles 
that  underlie  all  practical  language  culture,  whether  it 
assumes  the  form  of  speech,  reading,  or  composition — 
what  I  have  ventured  to  call  the  language-arts. 

2.  To  emphasize  the  value  of  such  culture — the  edu- 
cation that  grows  directly  out  of  the  use  and  study  of 
the  vernacular. 

3.  To  present  to  teachers  some  methods  and  devices 


TI1E  SCOPE  OF  THE   PRESENT   WORK.  5 

that,  intelligently  followed,  will  enable  them  to  carry  on  the 
child's  instruction  in  the  language-arts  in  harmony  with 
the  underlying  principles.  These  methods  and  devices 
cover  in  a  general  way  the  whole  field  up  to  the  college ; 
they  even  touch  the  college,  and  reach  far  into  the  field 
of  self-cultivation. 

4.  To  discuss  grammar  and  rhetoric  with  a  double 
purpose :  first,  to  determine  wherein  their  principal  edu- 
cational value  lies ;  and,  secondly,  to  point  out  their  rela- 
tions to  the  language-arts.  The  teaching  of  literature 
and  the  functions  of  criticism  in  the  language-arts  will 
also  receive  merited  attention.  The  order  of  this  analy- 
sis will  not  in  all  cases  be  strictly  followed. 


8 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS   DEFINED. 

Before  we  can  intelligently  consider  the  special  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter,  we  must  form  clear  ideas  of  science 
and  art  and  their  primal  relation. 

Science  is  knowledge  and  art  is  skill ;  or,  more  fully, 
science  is  organized  knowledge,  while  art  is  educated  skill. 
The  same  ideas  are  expressed  by  the  terms  "  theory  "  and 
"  practice."  This  is  the  fundamental  distinction.  Here 
art  is  actual  skill,  practice,  or  doing.  But  art  has  a  sec- 
ond meaning ;  it  signifies  also  a  body  of  rules  or  precepts 
that  guide  skill,  practice,  or  doing.  This  is  the  sense  of 
art  in  the  statement  that  science  teaches  us  to  know  aud 
art  to  do ;  or  in  the  statement  that  the  two  differ  as  the 
indicative  mode  differs  from  the  imperative,  the  first  mak- 
ing declarations,  the  second  issuing  commands.  This  is 
the  sense  in  which  art  is  used  in  the  familiar  title,  "  The 
Art  of  Teaching."  Practice  conveys  the  same  idea  in 
the  titles,  "  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching,"  "  The 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine."  The  radical  relation 
of  the  two  elements  is  perfectly  obvious  :  the  science  or 
theory  of  the  book  or  course  of  lectures  consists  of  the 
facts  and  principles  advanced  ;  the  art  or  practice  is  com- 
posed of  the  rules  and  methods.  To  grasp  this  duality  of 
art,  practice  and  rules  to  guide  practice,  is  most  impor- 
tant    The  second  is  the  conscious  or  reflective  side  of  art. 

6 


THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS  DEFINED.  7 

The  matters  that  are  immediately  pursued  and  taught 
in  schools  are  commonly  called  "  studies  "  and  "  subjects." 
While  this  usage  is  so  well  settled  that  there  is  little 
probability  of  its  being  changed,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
misleading  in  classification  and  mischievous  in  results,  as 
can  easily  be  made  to  appear. 

In  some  school  work  the  fundamental  activity  is  doing 
or  practice  ;  in  other  work,  learning  or  knowing.  In  the 
first  case,  the  end  is  skill  or  practical  power  ;  in  the  sec- 
ond case,  knowledge  or  intellectual  power.  The  distinc- 
tion is  the  same  as  that  between  art  and  science,  practice 
and  theory.  The  relation  of  the  two  is  an  intimate  one. 
Knowledge  leads  to  doing,  and  doing  to  knowing. 

To  separate  the  school  arts  from  the  school  studies  or 
subjects  proper,  it  is  ouly  necessary  to  ask  :  "  Which  is  the 
predominant  activity,  doing  or  knowing  ?  "  "  Which  the 
predominant  end,  skill  or  intelligence  ?  "  Touched  by 
this  question,  speech,  reading,  writing,  composition,  the 
elements  of  arithmetic,  drawing,  manual  training,  and 
music  declare  themselves^ to  belong  to  the  one  class; 
geography,  history,  grammar,  literature,  mathematics, 
and  the  sciences  to  the  other.  On  the  one  side  we  have 
tools  or  instruments,  on  the  other  branches  or  divisions 
of  knowledge.  The  principal  of  these  arts  or  tools  are 
speech,  reading,  and  writing,  and  they  constitute  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  this  book.  The  others  may  be  characterized 
in  general,  and  then  be  dismissed  once  for  all. 

Most  of  the  elementary  school  arts  involve  reading  and 
writing  of  some  kind.  Arithmetical  notation  is  a  species 
of  writing,  numeration  of  reading.  The  other  elements 
of  arithmetic— addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and 
division — are  mere  processes  or  methods  of  computation. 
They  are  as  much  arts  as  the  abacus,  or  the  contrivances 
used  in  calculation  by  the  Chinese.     All  these  elements— 


8  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

the  so-called  fundamental  rules — belong  equally  to  the 
other  branches  of  mathematics ;  but  they  are  first  acquired 
in  connection  with  number  or  arithmetic,  and  they  deter- 
mine its  practical  character.  Drawing  is  a  form  of  writ- 
ing. A  draftsman  makes  a  working  drawing  of  a  machine ; 
a  workman  reads  it  and  follows  its  directions.  Manual 
training  and  music  are  confessedly  arts ;  and,  in  general, 
it  may  be  said  that  all  systems  of  symbolism  and  nomen- 
clature, all  notations,  signs,  and  alphabets,  are  mere  tools, 
appliances,  arts  ;  they  are  not  taught  or  studied  as  ends, 
but  as  means  ;  they  are  put  in  the  elementary  school  be- 
cause they  are  essential  to  its  real  work,  as  well  as  to 
the  work  of  life,  and  they  give  to  it  its  predominant 
character. 

Now  we  return  to  language.  Vocal  expression  is  in- 
stinctive, but  speech  is  an  art.  The  human  infant  spon- 
taneously expresses  himself  in  sounds,  noises,  cries  of 
various  kinds,  but  he  does  not  spontaneously  speak  the 
German,  the  English,  or  the  French  language,  or  even 
any  savage  dialect  of  the  desert  or  forest.  As  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  it  is  imitation  that  transforms  the  infant's 
instinctive  utterance  into  language.  Perhaps  oral  speech 
is  not  commonly  counted  among  the  arts  ;  but  we  virtually 
acknowledge  that  it  is  so  when  we  speak  of  "  the  art 
of  conversation"  and  of  "the  art  of  public  speaking," 
for  these  forms  of  speech  do  not  differ  from  common 
speech  in  kind.  Moreover,  speech  is  an  art  that  is  cul- 
tivated, or  at  least  should  be  cultivated,  in  the  school. 
Reading  is  a  means  of  study  and  not  a  study  itself.  It 
discloses  the  contents  of  the  printed  page.  It  is  skill  for 
the  completion  of  a  work.  It  is  an  instrument  of  acquire- 
ment, and  can  be  used  with  power  and  ease  only  through 
much  practice.  Writing  is  a  means  of  record  and  impar- 
tation.     It  produces  the  printed  page.     It  is  the  correla- 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS  DEFINED.  9 

tive  of  reading,  originating  at  the  same  time,  and  has  long 
been  known  as  the  art  preservative  of  arts.  Composition 
is  to  the  mind  what  writing  is  to  the  hand  or  speech  to 
the  vocal  organs ;  it  is  the  production  and  arrangement 
of  ideas,  as  writing  is  of  characters  and  speech  of  sounds ; 
or,  if  composition  is  held  to  include  expression,  as  prop- 
erly it  does,  then  it  is  a  double  art,  including  the  arrange- 
ment of  ideas  and  their  expression  in  words. 

We  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  language-arts 
present  the  two  phases  that  belong  to  the  arts  in  general. 
They  may  be  considered  as  practical  skill  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  work,  or  as  codes  of  rules  creating 
and  guiding  skill.  The  child  reads,  writes,  etc. ;  there 
are  also  rules  for  reading  and  writing.  The  relation  of 
the  pupil  and  of  the  teacher  to  these  rules  is  a  subject 
that  will  claim  much  of  our  attention  at  a  more  advanced 
stage  of  our  discussion ;  here  it  suffices  to  say  that  read- 
ing as  practical  skill  and  reading  as  a  code  of  rules  are 
two  very  different  things.  The  child  goes  to  school  to 
acquire  the  skill,  and  the  rules  are  of  practical  value  only 
in  so  far  as  they  contribute  to  that  end.  It  should  also  be 
observed  that  the  two  are  by  no  means  inseparable.  A 
person  may  read  well,  and  not  be  able  to  give  any  rules ; 
he  may  also  give  rules  in  abundance,  and  not  be  able  to 
read  well,  or  even  at  all. 

Nor  must  we  overlook  the  fact  that  the  language-arts, 
like  the  other  school  arts,  are  more  or  less  connected  with 
certain  sciences.  The  art  of  music  leans  upon  the  science 
of  music  ;  drawing  and  manual  training  depend  upon 
physics  and  mathematics  ;  the  principles  of  composition 
are  found  in  grammar  and  rhetoric ;  while  reading  and 
writing  go  back  to  physiology  and  psychology. 

It  is  not  impertinent  to  remark  that  we  are  here  deal- 
ing with  reading  and  the  other  arts  of  the  elementary 


10  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

school  as  they  are  carried  on  in  the  school,  and  not  as 
they  are  treated  in  books  or  lectures.  If  they  are  made 
the  subject  of  scientific  investigation;  if  they  are  treated 
reflectively ;  if  rules,  methods,  facts,  and  laws  occupy  at- 
tention to  the  exclusion  of  skill  on  practice,  then  they 
become  studies  or  subjects  as  a  matter  of  course.  But 
this  is  not  the  way  in  which  they  present  themselves  to 
the  child  holding  in  his  hand  his  primer  or  his  copybook. 
Two  additional  observations  may  be  offered.  The  first 
is  that  if  reading,  writing,  and  composition,  as  found  in 
the  schools,  are  studies  at  all,  they  are  studies  of  a  peculiar 
character.  Little  discrimination  is  needed  to  separate 
them  from  formal  studies  like  grammar  and  rhetoric,  or 
from  real  studies  like  mathematics  and  science.  They  do 
not  become  studies  until  they  are  subjected  to  scientific 
method ;  that  is,  until  they  are  made  the  subject-matter 
of  discussion  and  formal  treatment.  It  is  true  that  they  all 
give  the  pupil  some  discipline,  and  that  they  all  add  some- 
thiug  to  his  store  of  knowledge  ;  but  these  are  minor  facts 
that  do  not  determine  their  classification.  At  most,  in  the 
school  they  are  tools  or  instrumental  studies.  The  second 
observation  is  that  if  the  distinction  between  the  school 
arts  and  the  school  studies  be  pronounced  unimportant, 
two  answers  may  be  made.  Classification  should  rest  on 
facts — should  be  scientific.  Then  the  present  designation 
of  these  arts  as  studies  leads  the  teacher,  or  at  all  events 
tends  to  lead  the  teacher,  to  misplace  the  emphasis  and  to 
adopt  a  false  method.  If  reading,  for  example,  is  regard- 
ed as  a  study  or  subject,  rather  than  an  art,  the  teacher  is 
tempted  to  place  rules  or  method  above  power  to  execute, 
and  above  the  practice  which  alone  can  produce  such 
power.  Still  more  is  this  the  tendency  in  teaching  com- 
position. Never,  until  the  idea  that  composition  is  a 
"  study  "  to  be  learned  from  a  book  is  banished  from  the 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS  DEFINED.  H 

school,  will  children  be  taught  to  write  properly.  Among 
the  severest  criticisms  made  upon  the  common  school  are 
these  :  "  The  reading  and  spelling  are  poor,"  "  The  me- 
chanical work  in  arithmetic  is  laborious  and  inaccurate," 
"  The  composition  is  bad  " ;  and  these  are  faults  that  can  be 
corrected  only  through  practice.  There  can  be  no  greater 
mistake  in  relation  to  the  first  stages  of  school  education 
than  that  the  rationale  of  a  process  is  immediately  valu- 
able. A  painter  or  musician  knows  his  technical  rules 
and  his  science,  but  neither  his  technical  rules  nor  his 
science  can  take  the  place  of  technique  or  execution.  It 
is  by  no  means  always  true  that  a  mathematician  is  "  good 
in  figures  "  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  often  poor.  It  is 
therefore  extremely  important  that  the  teacher  should 
clearly  see  whether  the  end  to  which  a  school  exercise 
looks  is  skill  or  knowledge — practical  power  or  intel- 
lectual power. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   VERNACULAR   AS   AN   EDUCATIONAL   INSTRUMENT. 

The  first  view  that  men  take  of  language,  and  the 
only  one  that  most  of  them  ever  take,  is  the  practical 
view.  Language  is  a  tool  to  be  used  in  the  commerce  of 
life.  Through  it  we  receive  the  thought  and  feeling  of 
our  fellows,  and  convey  our  own  thought  and  feeling  to 
them  in  turn.  The  field  of  this  peculiar  commerce  is  so 
extensive  that  it  gives  rise  to  the  three  greatest  arts — 
speech,  reading,  and  writing.  These  pages  abound  in 
remarks  on  the  value  of  these  arts  and  their  place  in  edu- 
cation. In  the  present  chapter  it  is  proposed  to  take  a 
broader  and  more  fundamental  view  of  the  subject.  This 
is  the  more  necessary,  because  a  large  majority  of  men, 
and  even  of  teachers,  never  look  beyond  the  immediate 
or  practical  uses  of  this  great  instrument  of  human  in- 
tercourse to  discover  its  further  value. 

The  relation  of  language  and  the  mind  has- furnished 
men  of  speculative  habit  some  of  the  most  interesting  and 
difficult  questions  with  which  they  have  grappled.  One 
of  these  questions,  and  perhaps  the  most  fascinating  of  all, 
is  whether  general  names  denote  real  existence  or  only 
subjective  existence — the  old  contention  of  the  Nominal- 
ists and  the  Realists.  '  Another  and  perhaps  a  more  practi- 
cal one  is  whether  language  and  thought  are  inseparable. 
It  is  a  tradition  of  the  schools  that  without  articulate 

12 


THE  VERNACULAR.  13 

speech  there  is,  and  there  can  be,  no  real  mental  activity, 
at  least  no  thinking.  This  tradition,  inveterate  as  it 
is,  is  certainly  untrue.  The  existence  of  human  intelli- 
gence, independent  of  language,  can  be  conclusively  es- 
tablished.* It  by  no  means  follows,  however,  that  the 
human  intelligence  can  be  fully  developed,  or  even  far 
developed,  without  language.  On  the  other  hand,  mental 
growth  can  never  advance  beyond  a  certain  rudimentary 

*  Prof.  Preyer,  who  is  perhaps  the  highest  authority  on  the  sub- 
ject, gives  us  the  demonstration  (see  Mental  Development  in  the 
Child).  Preyer  remarks,  what  indeed  any  intelligent  observer  can 
see  for  himself,  that  the  child  learns  to  make  the  discrimination  of 
warm  and  wet,  damp  and  cool,  dry  and  warm,  dry  and  cold,  rough 
and  hard,  soft  and  smooth,  heavy  and  light,  at  a  time  when  as  yet 
he  gives  no  hint  whatever  in  the  direction  of  naming  his  feelings  in 
words  of  articulate  speech  (page  30).  He  remarks  too  that  deaf  and 
dumb  children  in  the  first  months  do  not  differ  essentially  from 
normal  children  (page  31).  Children  born  completely  deaf  have, 
"  through  the  senses  of  sight  and  touch,  a  large  number  of  ideas, 
and  they  often  have  a  remarkable  understanding  "  (page  88).  The 
first  time  that  a  child  with- a  spoon  in  his  right  hand  strikes  the 
table,  notices  the  sound,  and  then,  shifting  the  spoon  to  the  other 
hand,  repeats  the  experiment,  he  gives  a  sign  of  intellect  that  seeks 
for  causes  (page  85).  Forest  children  that  have  been  rescued  from 
their  imbrutement,  and  have  learned  to  talk,  have  shown  a  mental 
development  superior  to  the  animals  about  them,  and  have  turned 
to  practical  account  in  their  new  life  what  they  had  learned  in  the 
wilderness  (pages  90-93).  Again,  the  general  conclusion  is  strength- 
ened by  analogous  facts  observed  in  the  study  of  animals,  in  the 
fields  and  woods,  in  zoological  gardens,  and  in  the  aquarium  (page 
84).  Still,  further,  ideas  are  before  words,  and  therefore  before 
talking  (page  89).  Thinking,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  can 
not  be  taught  to  any  one  through  verbal  instruction.  No  child  is 
at  first  instructed  in  thinking,  but  every  child  learns  of  himself  to 
think  as  much  as  he  learns  to  see  and  hear  (page  G9).  In  the  child 
no  special  activity  of  intellect  is  proved  by  a  special  aptitude  for 
acquiring  words,  but  sometimes  the  contrary  (page  94). 


14  TEACHING   TIIE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

stage  unless  the  child  is  in  possession  of  an  adequate 
means  of  expression.  This  is  not  denied.  Furthermore, 
adequate  means  of  expression  implies  a  verbal  language. 
Facial  expression,  looks,  signs,  gestures,  pictures,  and 
symbols  do  not  suffice.  The  truth  is,  that  we  early  learn 
to  carry  on  our  thinking  in  words ;  that  in  real  human 
life  thought  and  language  are  practically  inseparable,  and 
that  neither  one  can  be  understood,  or  be  intelligently 
discussed,  without  constant  reference  to  the  other.  We 
may  call  intelligence  the  master  of  speech,  but  the  serv- 
ant is  indispensable  to  the  master.*  Sir  William  Ham- 
ilton has  appositely  said  that  language  is  the  godmother 
of  knowledge.  "  Language  is  to  the  mind  precisely  what 
the  arch  is  to  the  tunnel,"  he  says ;  "  the  power  of 
thinking  and  the  power  of  excavation  are  not  dependent 
on  the  word  in  one  case,  or  on  the  mason  work  in  the 
other;  but  without  these  subsidiaries,  neither  process 
could  be  carried  beyond  its  rudimentary  commence- 
ment." f  We  must,  however,  make  this  almost  insepa- 
rable relation  the  subject  of  a  closer  investigation. 

Not  only  have  writers  on  psychology,  logic,  and  philol- 
ogy discussed  the  genetic  relation  of  thought  and  speech, 


*  This  fact  Preyer  also  distinctly  recognises.  The  history  of  im- 
bruted  children  furnishes  "  the  proof  of  the  indispensableness  of  the 
learning  of  language  for  the  attainment  of  full  intellectual  activity 
and  the  development  of  feeling  by  means  of  learning  to  speak  in 
the  first  years  of  life ;  for  they  have  almost  all  lost  the  ability  to 
frame  thoughts  that  go  beyond  the  immediate  surroundings,  and 
to  rise  to  higher  concepts — to  the  highest  reason."  That  the 
"  capacity  which  first  lends  to  human  life  its  true  worth  is  only 
possible  through  the  learning  of  language — and  in  fact  of  verbal 
language,  not  picture  language  or  sign  language,  or  any  other 
means  of  understanding — nobody  denies." — Mental  Development  in 
the  Child,  p.  94. 

f  Logic,  lecture  viii. 


THE    VERNACULAR.  15 

but  historians  have  marked  the  correspondence  of  their 
respective  development.    "  Language  lies  at  the  root  of  all 
mental  cultivation."    So  says  the  great  historian  of  Rome, 
Dr.  Theodor  Mommsen  ;  and  no  one  has  a  better  right  to 
say  so  than  he,  unless  it  may  be  an  equally  eminent  his- 
torian of  Greece.     The  great  languages  of  the  world  are 
no   accidents;    they   are   not   found   here   and   there   at 
random,  but  belong  to  the  great  peoples.     The  thought, 
the  imagination,  the  feeling   of  Greece  could   not  have  • 
existed   separate   and   apart   from   the    Greek   language. 
The  force  of  character,  the  will,  and  the  action  of  Rome 
were  inseparably  bound  up  with  the  Roman  tongue.     We 
can  not  think  of  the  contributions  that  these  two  nations 
made  to  civilization  as  emanating  from  peoples  who  used 
feeble  or  meagre  languages.    But  this  is  not  all :  not  only 
must  a  great  people  live  in  a  great  language,  but  its  lan- 
guage must  be  suited  to  its  genius  and  life.     Latin  could 
not  have  been   the   language  of  Greece,  nor  Greek  the 
language  of  Rome  ;  and  still  less  could  Hebrew  have  been 
the  language  of  either.  ^  An  Englishman  can  not  grow  up 
in  the  French  language,  or  a  Frenchman  in  the  English 
language.     Hebrew  expresses  the  deep  spiritual  concep- 
tions of  Judea;  Greek,  the  profound  and  subtle  philo- 
sophical and  aesthetics!  ideas  of  Greece  ;  Latin,  the  practi- 
cal aims  of  Rome.     German  fits  the  Germans,  French  the 
French,  English  the  English ;  and  were  the  young  of  the 
three  nations  changed  at  birth  a  transformation  of  in- 
herited character  would   immediately  begin.      We  need 
not  inquire  more  curiously  into  the  relation  existing  be- 
tween national  character  and  language ;  it  suffices  us  to 
know  that  the  interaction  between  the  two  is  constant 
and  powerful.     In  a  way,  the  national  language  is  the 
best  metre  of  the  national  genius  and  character. 

As  with  the  nation,  so  with  the  individual.     A  great 


16  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

man  can  not  live  in  a  small  or  a  barren  language  ;  and  if 
he  is  compelled  to  make  use  of  one  that  is  below  his  pur- 
pose, as  Dante  in  writing  the  Divina  Commedia,  Jerome 
in  translating  the  Bible  into  Latin,*  or  Luther  in  trans- 
lating it  into  German,  he  expands  it  and  raises  it  to  his 
own  level  by  forcing  into  it  new  content,  and  so  giving  it 
a  new  rank  in  the  world.  But  even  so  much  as  this  he 
can  not  do  unless  the  material  is  ready  to  his  hand.  Em- 
erson tells  us  that  a  man's  power  to  connect  his  thought 
with  its  proper  symbol,  and  so  to  utter  it,  depends  on  the 
simplicity  of  his  character — "  that  is,  his  love  of  truth, 
and  his  desire  to  communicate  it  without  loss";  that 
"  the  corruption  of  man  is  followed  by  the  corruption  of 
language  "  ;  and  that  "  picturesque  language  is  at  once  a 
commanding  certificate  that  he  who  employs  it  is  a  man 
in  alliance  with  truth  and  God."  f  But  this  is  only  one 
side  of  the  shield  ;  Lowell  gives  us  the  other  side.  "  The 
material  of  thought,"  says  he,  "  reacts  upon  the  thought 
itself.  Shakespeare  himself  would  have  been  common- 
place had  he  been  paddocked  in  a  thinly  shaven  vocabulary, 
and  Phidias,  had  he  worked  in  wax,  only  a  more  improved 
Mrs.  Jarley."  J  Then  a  man's  speech  reflects  not  merely 
his  moods,  as  of  thoughtfulness  or  passion,  but  also  his 
whole  mental  life.  Thus  language  becomes,  and  particu- 
larly unpremeditated  language,  a  measure  of  the  man. 
All  in  all,  it  is  a  better  metre  of  his  cultivation  than  his 
manners.  The  dialect  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus  spoke 
"  betrayed "  much  more  than  that  they  were  Galileans. 
The  correspondence  is  perfect  between  the  mind  of  Mil- 


*  See  Dean  Milman  on  Jerome's  Bible,  Latin  Christianity,  vol. 
i,  p.  2. 

f  Nature,  chap.  iv. 

%  Books  and  Libraries,  in  Literary  and  Political  Addresses. 


THE   VERNACULAR.  17 

ton,  as  erudite  as  poetic,  and  his  diction ;  while  Shake- 
speare is  no  more  masterful  in  thought,  delineation,  and 
fancy  than  in  vocabulary. 

"  What  is  that,"  asks  Coleridge,  "  which  first  strikes 
us,  and  strikes  us  at  once,  in  a  man  of  education,  and 
which,  among  educated  men,  so  instantly  distinguishes 
the  man  of  superior  mind,  that  (as  was  observed  with 
eminent  propriety  of  the  late  Edmund  Burke)  we  can 
not  stand  under  the  same  archway  during  a  shower  of 
rain  without  finding  him  out  ?  Not  the  weight  or  novelty 
of  his  remarks  ;  not  any  unusual  interest  of  facts  com- 
municated by  him,  etc.  ...  It  is  the  unpremeditated  and 
evidently  habitual  arrangement  of  his  words,  grounded  on 
the  habit  of  foreseeing,  in  each  integral  part,  or  (more 
plainly)  in  every  sentence,  the  whole  that  he  intends  to 
communicate.  However  irregular  and  desultory  his  talk, 
there  is  method  in  the  fragments."  * 

What  has  been  said  relates  to  vernacular  languages. 
The  word  is  derived  from  vernaculus,  which  comes 
again  from  verna,  a  slave  born  in  his  master's  house  ; 
and  it  means  the  speech  to  which  one  is  born  and  in 
which  he  is  reared— the  patrius  sermo  of  the  Roman, 
the  Mutter  Sprache  of  the  German,  the  mother  tongue  of 
the  Englishman.  Command  of  a  noble  vernacular  in- 
volves  the  most  valuable  discipline  and  culture  that  a 
man  is  capable  of  receiving.  It  conditions  all  other  dis- 
cipline and  culture.  Reference  is  not  now  made  to  its 
scientific  study,  to  its  history  and  philology,  its  lexical 
and  grammatical  elements  ;  what  is  meant  rather  is  the 
man's  growing  up  in  the  language,  so  to  speak,  and  using 
it  for  all  the  purposes  of  his  mental  life.  The  greatest 
mental  inheritance  to  which  a  German,  a  Frenchman,  or 

*  The  Friend,  section  ii,  Essay  iv. 


18  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

an  Englishman  is  born  is  his  native  tongue,  rich  in  the 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  the  ideas  and  thoughts,  the  wit 
and  fancy,  the  sentiment  and  feeling,  of  a  thousand  years. 
Nay,  of  more  than  a  thousand  years  ;  for  these  languages 
in  their  modern  forms  were  enriched  by  still  earlier  cen- 
turies. To  come  back  to  the  old  thought,  such  a  speech 
as  one  of  these  only  flows  out  from  such  a  life  as  it 
expresses,  and  is  in  turn  essential  to  the  existence  of 
that  life. 

A  man's  lack  of  a  cultivated  language  means  one  of 
two  things :  either  that  his  mental  and  moral  life  must 
be  confined  and  repressed,  or  that  he  must  go  abroad 
in  quest  of  what  he  can  not  find  at  home.  The  deepest 
significance  of  the  Renaissance  is  disclosed  by  the  fact 
that,  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  the  minds 
of  men  had  awakened  to  the  barrenness  of  the  mental 
waste  about  them  ;  that  they  craved  thought,  sentiment, 
and  beauty,  of  which  their  own  tongues  were  destitute  ; 
and  that  they  resorted  to  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics, 
which  were  at  that  time  practically  restored  to  the  world. 
The  weakest  side  of  the  Renaissance  as  an  intellectual 
movement  was,  that  it  could  not  in  any  case  be  really  na- 
tional. Scholars  might  be  developed  and  sustained  on  the 
old  literatures,  but  not  the  people.  However  it  may  be 
with  epicures,  the  common  man  can  not  subsist  on  exotic 
fruits.  There  is  no  example  in  history  of  a  powerful  na- 
tional mental  and  moral  life,  unless  it  grows  out  of  a  ver- 
nacular culture  and  is  supported  by  it.  Witness  the  Jews, 
the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans. 

What  has  been  said  leads  up  to  our  main  topic.  This  is, 
the  vernacular  as  an  instrument  of  education.  A  learned 
Scotch  writer  contends  that  the  study  of  the  vernacular 
"  is,  and  must  always  be,  the  supreme  object  in  the  educa- 
tion of  a  human  being,  the  centre  around  which  all  other 


THE  VERNACULAR.  19 

educational  agencies  ought  to  arrange  themselves  in  due 
subordination."  The  one  argument  that  he  presses,  some- 
what abridged,  runs  as  follows  : 

Mind  grows  only  in  so  far  as  it  finds  expression  for 
itself  ;  and  this  it  can  not  find  in  a  foreign  tongue.  It  is 
round  the  language  learned  at  the  mother's  knee  that  the 
whole  life  of  feeling,  emotion,  and  thought  gathers.  If 
it  were  possible  for  a  child  or  boy  to  live  in  two  languages 
at  once  equally  well,  so  much  the  worse  ;  his  intellectual 
and  spiritual  growth  would  not  be  doubled  but  halved. 
Unity  of  mind  and  of  character  would  have  great  difficulty 
in  asserting  itself.  Language  is  at  best  only  symbolic  of 
the  world  of  consciousness,  and  nearly  every  word  is  rich 
in  unexpressed  associations  of  life-experience,  which  gives 
it  its  full  value  for  the  life  of  mind.  Subtilties,  delicacies, 
and  refinements  of  feeling  and  perception  are  only  indi- 
cated by  words  ;  the  rest  lies  deep  in  our  conscious  or  un- 
conscious life,  and  is  the  source  of  the  tone  and  colour  of 
language.  Words,  accordingly,  must  be  steeped  in  life  to 
be  living ;  and  as  we  have  not  two  lives,  but  only  one,  so 
we  have  only  one  language.  To  the  mother  tongue,  then, 
all  other  languages  we  acquire  are  merely  subsidiary  ;  and 
their  chief  value  in  the  education  of  youth  is  that  they 
help  to  bring  into  relief  for  us  the  character  of  our  own 
language  as  a  logical  medium  of  thinking,  or  help  us  to 
understand  it  as  thought,  or  to  feel  it  as  literary  art* 

An  able  American  scholar,  profoundly  realizing  the 
dependence  of  solid  cultivation  upon  the  national  tongue, 
forcibly  argues  that  this  dependence  must  find  larger 
recognition  in  our  scheme  of  education.  The  following 
is  also  somewhat  abridged  : 

*  Prof.   S.   S.   Laurie :   Lectures   on   Language  and  Linguistic 
Method  in  the  School,  pp.  18,  19,  second  edition. 


20  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Education,  he  contends,  is  more  than  mental  dis- 
cipline ;  it  is  a  process  of  nutrition.  Mind  grows  by  what 
it  feeds  on,  and,  like  the  body,  must  have  suitable  and 
appropriate  nourishment.  Intellect  is  only  one  function 
of  the  mind  ;  feeling  and  volition  are  co-present  and  co- 
essential.  And  these  three  are  one  mind.  The  pre-emi- 
nence of  literature  as  educative  material  is  due  to  the  fact 
that,  coming  as  poetry  especially  does  from  the  intellectual 
and  emotional  depths  of  creative  genius,  it  awakens,  nour- 
ishes, and  calls  into  activity  the  corresponding  potencies 
of  those  who  are  touched  by  its  influence.  Then  language 
is  the  sole  universal  in  the  life  of  man.  Language  and 
literature  are  more  than  liberalizing,  they  are  humanizing 
studies.  Through  the  humanity  in  them  we  realize  our 
own  individual  human  capacities.  The  language  and  lit- 
erature that  best  serve  this  end  are  our  own.  Consequent- 
ly, the  vernacular  is  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  a  liberal 
education.  The  Greeks,  to  whom  we  owe  our  ideal  of 
culture,  knew  no  language  but  their  own  ;  but  the  minds 
of  Greek  schoolboys  were  steeped  in  their  own  noble  liter- 
ature. For  our  youth  the  essential  and  indispensable  ele- 
ment in  a  generous  culture  is  the  English  language  and 
literature.  But  the  best  results  in  the  teaching  of  English 
in  high  schools  can  not  be  secured  without  the  aid  given 
by  the  study  of  some  other  language,  which,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  all  experts,  should  be  Latin  or  a  modern  tongue. 
This  re-enforces  the  humanistic  starting-point,  which  is 
of  the  utmost  importance.  From  the  vernacular  as  a  cen- 
tre the  entire  scheme  of  secondary  education  must  be,  and 
in  due  time  will  be,  evolved.* 

*  Dr.  J.  G.  Schurman :  The  School  Review,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  93,  94. 


CHAPTER   R7. 

THE    WORK    OF   THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL. 

When"  a  child  first  reaches  the  schoolhouse,  say  at 
the  age  of  six  years,  he  has  already  acquired  two  invalu- 
able mental  possessions.     These  are  : — 

1.  A  store  of  facts,  ideas,  and  images — that  is,  of 
knowledge  ;  or,  to  speak  in  terms  of  power  rather  than 
of  attainment,  the  child  lias  reached  a  certain  stage  of 
mental  growth  or  expansion ;  he  has  a  certain  procreative 
mental  power. 

2.  A  store  of  language  capable  of  expressing  measur- 
ably these  ideas,  facts,  and  images ;  or,  to  adopt  the  other 
form  of  expression,  the  child  is  able  to  clothe  the  children 
of  his  mind  in  an  appropriate  garb  of  speech. 

These  two  facts  stand  in  a  certain  relation  to  each 
other  ;  they  are  in  a  sense  only  aspects  of  one  and  the 
same  fact,  as  was  stated  in  general  terms  in  the  last 
chapter.  As  a  rule,  however,  mental  power  is  in  excess  of 
linguistic  power.  Professor  Preyer  declares  that  "  the 
newborn  human  being  brings  with  him  into  the  world  far 
more  intellect  than  talent  for  language,"  *  and  it  is  prob- 
able that,  as  a  rule,  intellect  maintains  this  primitive  ad- 
vantage. Just  as  the  child's  physical  strength  is  in  ex- 
cess of  his  power  to  walk  until  he  has  found  his  legs,  so 
his  intellectual  strength  is  in  excess  of  his  power  to  talk 

*  The  Development  of  the  Intellect,  p.  33. 
4  21 


22  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

until  he  has  found  his  tongue.  Both  walking  and  talk- 
ing are  habits  or  arts  to  be  acquired.  While  it  is  true, 
as  the  writer  just  quoted  says,  that  it  was  not  language 
which  generated  the  intellect,  but  rather  the  intellect 
which  invented  speech,  it  is  still  true  that  practically  the 
two  elements  are  inseparably  connected,  and  thus  either 
element  may  be  roughly  measured  in  terms  of  the 
other. 

The  two  main  facts  now  stated  are  the  roots  from 
which  the  child's  school  culture  is  to  spring.  The  teacher, 
as  she  meets  the  new  pupil  at  the  schoolroom  door, 
faces  therefore  a  twofold  work. 

1.  She  must  strive  to  enlarge  and  clarify  the  child's 
mental  store,  rendering  his  ideas,  facts,  and  thoughts 
more  precise  and  definite,  as  well  as  more  full  and  varied. 
She  is  to  enlarge  the  quantity  and  improve  the  quality  of 
what  the  child  knows  ;  or,  to  speak  in  terms  of  power 
again,  she  is  to  stimulate  and  direct  the  growth  or  ex- 
pansion of  his  mind.  Under  this  head  the  teaching  of 
all  studies,  or  subjects  proper,  falls,  no  matter  what  their 
names  or  character. 

2.  She  must  put  him  in  possession  of  the  elementary 
school  arts,  as  previously  explained — what  are  sometimes 
called  the  instrumental  studies.  In  particular — and  for 
our  purpose  this  is  the  main  point — she  must  strive  to 
enlarge  and  improve  his  language  ;  enlarge  it  by  expand- 
ing his  vocabulary,  improve  it  by  rendering  his  use  of 
language  more  clear  and  definite.  This  requirement  will 
include  not  merely  oral  speech,  but  also  reading  and  com- 
position, or  all  the  language-arts.  Professor  Laurie  says 
our  business  as  educators  is  to  give  to  the  child's  "  words 
definite  and  clear  significations,  and  to  help  the  child  in 
adding  to  his  stock ;  for,  in  adding  to  his  stock  of  under- 
stood words,  we  add  to  his  stock   of  understood  things, 


THE  WORK  OP  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL.      23 

and,  consequently,  to  his  material  for  thought  and  the 
growth  of  the  fabric  of  his  mind."* 

The  earnest  teacher  who  assays  this  two-sided  task  is 
at  once  confronted  by  the  question  of  method.  Under 
either  head  she  asks,  "  Where  shall  I  begin?  "  and  "  How 
shall  I  proceed  ? "  These  questions  she  can  not  intelli- 
gently answer  until  she  has  carefully  studied  the  child's 
previous  mental  life.  Entering  upon  such  study,  she  en- 
counters new  questions,  viz.,  "  How  has  the  child  acquired 
the  knowledge  that  he  possesses  already?"  and  "  How  has 
he  learned  the  language  that  he  habitually  uses  in  the  ex- 
pression of  his  thought  and  feeling  ?  "  The  answers  to 
these  questions  will  determine  in  a  general  way,  for  the 
time  being,  the  method  of  the  school ;  for  the  very  obvi- 
ous reason  that,  unless  the  school  preserves  the  essential 
continuity  of  the  child's  mental  life,  it  will  fail  to  ac- 
complish its  object.  As  the  child  has  been  learning, 
whether  knowledge  or  language,  so  in  the  main  must  he 
continue  to  learn.  This  is  the  method  of  Kature.  Answers 
to  our  two  questions  will -furnish  matter  for  the  two  en- 
suing chapters.    First,  however,  an  additional  observation. 

Closely  connected  as  thought  and  language  are,  either 
one  may  be  developed  somewhat  in  disproportion  to  the 
other.  This  fact  is  popularly  recognised  in  such  expres- 
sions as  that  "  A  knows  more  than  he  can  tell,"  while 
"  B  can  tell  more  than  he  knows."  The  wise  teacher  will 
not  fall  into  the  very  common  mistake  of  neglecting 
either  of  the  two  elements.  Good  teaching  of  subject- 
matter  enlarges  the  use  of  language,  and  good  teaching 
of  language  enlarges  subject-matter.  In  teaching  read- 
ing a  mistake  has  sometimes  been  made.  Too  little  at- 
tention has  been  paid  to  thought-material  and  too  much 


*  Pare  29. 


24  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

attention  to  words  and  expression.  At  the  present  time 
there  is,  in  some  quarters,  a  tendency  to  slight  the  arts  of 
expression  and,  relatively,  to  exaggerate  thought-material. 
In  the  unfolding  of  the  mind  intellect  precedes  language, 
as  we  have  seen  ;  bat  language  reacts  upon  intellect  to 
such  an  extent  that  its  large  cultivation  is  essential  to 
large  mental  growth.  To  cultivate  expression  is  to  cul- 
tivate mind.  In  the  elementary  school  the  two  lines  of 
work  should  be  co-ordinate.  To  neglect  either  is  to  go 
counter  to  the  teachings  of  psychology,  and  to  court  fail- 
ure in  the  end. 

Note. — Prof.  Laurie,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Lectures  on  Lan- 
guage and  Linguistic  Method  in  the  School  (page  23).  after  re- 
marking that  the  child's  range  of  language  up  to  the  eighth  year  is 
very  small,  said  that  he  was  probably  confined  to  not  more  than 
150  words.  In  the  second  edition  (page  28)  he  makes  the  number  not 
more  than  200  or  300  words.  Even  the  second  number  is  no  doubt 
too  small.  Mr.  Albert  Salisbury,  of  the  State  Normal  School, 
Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  reports  a  child  that  at  the  age  of  thirty-two 
months  had  by  actual  count  a  vocabulary  of  G42  words,  and  at  the 
age  of  five  and  a  half  years  a  vocabulary  of  1,529  words.  The 
two  vocabularies  are  as  follows  at  the  two  periods,  distributed  with 
reference  to  parts  of  speech  :  Nouns,  350  and  885 ;  pronouns,  24  and 
22;  verbs,  150  and  321;  adjectives,  60  and  236;  adverbs,  32  and  40; 
prepositions,  17  and  20 ;  conjunctions,  4  and  5 ;  interjections,  5  and 
1 ;  participles  and  inflected  forms  in  general  except  pronouns  were 
not  counted.  "  It  will  be  observed,"  says  Mr.  Salisbury,  "  that,  with 
an  apparent  shrinkage  in  his  use  of  pronouns  and  interjections,  there 
was  an  immense  increase  in  his  use  of  nouns  and  adjectives,  verbs 
coming  third  in  the  order  of  the  increase."  Of  the  second  list  he 
says,  further,  that  it  was  composed  of  words  not  merely  understood, 
but  of  words  actually  and  spontaneously  used  by  the  child,  and 
that  it  certainly  underestimated  his  working  vocabulary. — (Educa- 
tional Review,  March,  1894,  pp.  289,  290.) 

Prof.  Max  Muller  states,  on  the  authority  of  an  English  coun- 
try clergyman,  that  some  of  the  labourers  in  his  parish  had  not 
300  words  in  their  vocabulary ;  that  the  vocabulary  of  the  ancient 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.    25 

sages  of  Egypt,  as  far  as  it  is  known  from  the  hieroglyphic  inscrip- 
tions, amounts  to  about  685  words;  that  the  libretto  of  an  Italian 
opera  seldom  displays  a  greater  variety ;  that  a  well-educated  per- 
son in  England,  who  has  been  at  a  public  school  and  at  the  uni- 
versity, who  reads  his  Bible,  his  Shakespeare,  the  Times,  and  all  the 
books  of  Mudie's  Library,  seldom  uses  more  than  about  3,000  or 
4.000  words  in  actual  conversation ;  that  accurate  thinkers  and 
close  reasoners,  who  wait  until  they  find  the  word  that  exactly  fits 
their  meaning,  employ  a  larger  stock;  and  that  eloquent  speakers 
may  rise  to  a  command  of  10,000.  "  Shakespeare,  who  displayed  a 
greater  variety  of  expression  than  probably  any  writer  in  any  lan- 
guage, produced  all  his  plays  with  about  15,000  words.  Milton's 
works  are  built  up  with  8,000 ;  and  the  Old  Testament  says  all  that 
it  has  to  say  with  5.G42  words." — (The  Science  of  Language,  pp.  2G0, 
207.)  "  But  a  contributor  to  Cassell's  Saturday  Journal,"  says  the 
London  Daily  News,  "  has  been  at  considerable  pains  to  check  these 
(Miillers)  theories,  and  the  conclusion  that  he  arrives  at  is  that  the 
figures  given  are  too  small.  Farm  hands,  he  finds,  are  able  to  name 
all  the  common  objects  of  the  farm,  and  to  do  this  involves  the  use 
of  more  than  the  entire  number  of  300  words  allotted  to  them. 
Then,  by  going  through  a  dictionary,  and  excluding  compound 
words  or  words  not  in  pretty  constant  use,  he  found  that  there  were 
under  the  letter  's'  alone  1,018  words  that  are  to  be  found  in  ordi- 
nary people's  vocabulary.  It  would  be  nearer  the  truth,  we  are 
told,  to  say  that  the  agricultural  labourer  uses  1,500  more,  and  that 
intelligent  farm  hands  and  artisans  command  4,000  words,  while 
educated  people  have  at  call  from  8,000  to  10,000.  Journalists  are 
credited  with  12,000." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   CHILD'S   KNOWLEDGE. 

With  all  their  divergencies  of  view,  the  psychologists 
are  happily  agreed  on  the  one  fundamental  question  of 
the  origin  and  nature  of  our  earliest  knowledge.  Let  us 
run  over  the  principal  facts  that  are  to  be  considered  in 
studying  that  subject. 

The  first  of  these  facts  is  the  mind.  The  mind  is 
capable  of  activity,  of  self-activity,  and  this  is  its  char- 
acteristic attribute  ;  through  activity  it  grows,  increases, 
enlarges ;  furthermore,  while  the  mind  is  one  and  has  no 
parts,  it  is  capable  of  acting  in  several  different  spheres, 
or  of  having  a  variety  of  experiences,  and,  through  these 
activities  and  experiences,  its  powers  or  faculties  are  de- 
veloped. This  enlargement  or  increase  of  the  mind  we 
7iame  education.  Still  another  fact  in  relation  to  the 
mind  is  that  it  grows  only  through  its  own  activity.  Once 
more,  the  mind  can  not  act,  and  so  can  not  enlarge  or  be- 
come educated,  if  it  is  left  isolated.  Its  primal  activity 
is  dependent  absolutely  upon  something  external  to  itself. 
Accordingly,  the  second  fundamental  fact  in  knowing 
is  some  object  or  thing  other  than  mind.  In  general 
we  may  call  this  Nature.  It  is  Nature  that  first  sets  the 
mind  in  motion,  and  so  incites  its  growth  or  education  ; 
it  is  Nature  that  first  stimulates  us  to  know,  to  feel,  and 
to  choose.     Afterward  the  mind's  own  states  and  affec- 

2G 


THE  ORIGIN  OP  THE  CHILD'S   KNOWLEDGE.       27 

tions  act  in  the  same  way  ;  but  this  comes  only  in  the 
period  of  introspection  or  self-consciousness,  and  does  not 
lie  within  the  scope  of  the  present  survey.  But,  thirdly, 
Nature  and  the  mind  must  be  in  relation  one  to  the  other. 
Until  real  contact  is  established,  there  is  no  mental  ac- 
tivity and  so  no  knowledge  or  education  ;  but  the  mo- 
ment it  is  established  activity  begins,  and  knowledge  and 
education  take  their  rise.  Knowledge  is,  in  fact,  nothing 
but  a  relation  between  the  knowing  power  and  the  known 
object.  Properly  speaking,  it  has  no  existence  outside  of 
the  mind  ;  it  is  a  continuing  state  of  mind ;  that  is,  if 
minds  should  cease  to  know,  knowledge  would  cease  to 
exist.  We  do  indeed  assign  to  knowledge  an  objective 
existence,  as  when  we  speak  of  the  knowledge  that  is  stored 
up  in  books  and  libraries.  With  that  phase  of  the  sub- 
ject we  shall  deal  hereafter ;  here  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  what  books  and  libraries  do  really  contain  is  the  sym- 
bols of  knowledge — mere  transcripts  or  copies  of  the 
world  or  of  the  mind  as  the  authors  of  books  have  seen 
the  world  and  mind — and  that  they  are  meaningless  until 
they  are  converted  into  reality  by  the  reader's  own  ac- 
tivity. Letters  and  books  to  a  child,  or  to  an  illiterate 
person,  are  nothing  but  things,  like  stocks  and  stones. 

The  education  of  the  human  race  began  with  the  es- 
tablishment of  contact  between  mind  on  the  one  side  and 
the  facts  of  Nature  and  of  society  on  the  other.  The  di- 
rect contact  of  mind  with  mind  is  also  involved.  This 
primal  knowledge  and  discipline  was  soon  re-enforced 
from  another  source.  As  soon  as  men  began  to  observe, 
to  think,  and  remember — that  is,  to  accumulate  expe- 
rience— they  began  to  impart  what  they  had  learned  to 
one  another.  They  began  to  communicate.  Parents  in 
particular  communicated  to  their  children.  In  the 
primal  sense  of  the  word  that  was  the  beginning,  not 


28  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

strictly  of  education,  but  of  teaching.  One  generation 
told  what  it  knew  to  the  generation  following.  Thus 
arose  tradition,  the  oral  delivery  from  man  to  man  and 
from  age  to  age  of  a  store  of  accumulated  experience ; 
tradition,  which  has  exerted,  and  still  exerts,  an  incalcu- 
lable influence  upon  the  aifairs  of  men.  It  is  a  channel  of 
communication,  a  means  of  teaching.  It  does  not  stand 
for  first-hand  or  original  knowledge,  but  for  second-hand 
or  derivative  knowledge ;  or,  to  put  the  thought  in  an- 
other form,  what  one  learns  in  this  way  he  does  not  know 
through  the  exercise  of  his  own  faculties  of  observation 
and  reflection,  but  through  the  exercise  of  the  faculties 
of  reception  and  retention.  The  establishment  of  con- 
tact between  men's  minds  and  this  second  form  of  knowl- 
edge was  the  second  step  in  the  education  of  the  race. 
However,  this  relation  can  not  be  artificial  or  mechanical, 
but  must  be  real  and  vital,  as  before.  It  is  as  necessary 
for  one  to  use  his  mind  in  order  to  understand  what  an- 
other has  seen,  heard,  or  thought,  as  it  is  to  understand 
things  at  first  hand,  and  often  even  more  necessary.  The 
medium  of  tradition  is  oral  language,  assisted  by  signs 
and  gestures  ;  and  this  brings  us  back  again,  and  from  a 
new  angle,  to  the  relation  that  exists  between  language 
and  mental  cultivation. 

The  foregoing  survey  covers  the  whole  field  of  race 
education  previous  to  the  invention  of  some  kind  of 
writing — either  pictures,  words,  or  letters.  There  has 
been  some  discussion  of  the  question  how  far  the  in- 
dividual repeats  the  history  of  the  race.  He  certainly 
takes,  and  in  the  same  order,  all  the  steps  that  have  been 
enumerated.  The  boy  of  six  years  of  age  has  a  store  of 
ideas  that  may  be  grouped  as  follows  : — 

1.  Ideas  of  the  natural  world  about  him,  or  of  sense- 
objects.      These   ideas   are   simple,  particular,   concrete, 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE  CHILD'S  KNOWLEDGE.       29 

and  have  been  formed  by  the  familiar  processes  of  sense- 
perception.  Furthermore,  as  children  differ  in  natural 
environment,  so  they  differ  in  ideas.  The  mental  store 
of  the  city  boy  differs  from  that  of  the  country  boy. 

2.  Ideas  of  the  social  world.  These  ideas  also  are 
simple  and  concrete,  formed  by  sense-perception.  They 
are  ideas  both  of  persons  and  of  acts,  and  they  are  de- 
pendent upon  environment,  as  before. 

These  two  groups  of  ideas  are  the  first  that  the  child 
forms,  and  they  condition  all  his  later  knowledge.  He 
forms  them  himself,  at  first  hand ;  for  in  this  sphere  all 
that  the  parent,  nurse,  or  other  person  can  do  for  the 
child,  at  first,  is  merely  to  bring  facts  into  relation  to 
his  senses,  which  forms  a  sort  of  rudimentary  teaching. 
In  a  true  sense,  therefore,  the  child  is  an  original  investi- 
gator of  the  world  about  him,  prying  into  it  with  all  the 
organs  at  his  command. 

3.  Abstract  or  general  ideas.  These  are  notions  or 
concepts,  pale  and  shadowy  indeed,  but  still  the  germs  of 
all  scientific  thought.  Concept- making  is  later  than  per- 
cept-making, but  follows  close  upon  it.  Here  are  brought 
into  play  not  merely  observation,  but  analysis,  comparison, 
abstraction,  and  generalization.  The  child  learns  the  dif- 
ference between  "  mamma  "  and  "  woman,"  and  the  use  of 
the  plural  number ;  he  enters  into  the  sphere  of  relations 
that  distinguish,  in  simple  cases,  cause  and  effect.  These 
general  ideas  relate  to  the  social  sphere  as  well  as  to  Nature ; 
for,  notwithstanding  their  greater  abstractness,  the  normal- 
ly trained  child  early  begins  to  form  the  notions  conveyed 
by  the  words  "  command,"  "  rule,"  "  law,"  "  authority," 
"  control,"  and  "  government."  Although  not  self-con- 
scious, the  normal  child,  long  before  he  reaches  the  school- 
house,  has  learned  the  use  of  "I  "  and  "  me,"  or  has  learned 
to  discriminate  between  himself  and  the  world  about  him. 


30  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

4.  Judgments  and  inferences.  Judgment  or  compari- 
son is  involved  in  the  formation  of  both  percepts  and  con- 
cepts, and  also  of  inferences.  Still,  it  is  proper  to  men- 
tion them  particularly  as  constituting  thinking  proper. 
Professor  Preyer's  boy  was  twenty- three  months  old  when 
he  uttered  his  first  spoken  judgment,  Heiss — that  is, 
"  This  food  is  too  hot."  Add  inference  to  judgment, 
and  you  have  reasoned  knowledge. 

In  his  first  thinking,  the  child  uses  only  the  materials 
furnished  by  perception.  The  first  subject-matter  upon 
which  he  exercises  his  faculties  comes  from  his  own  expe- 
rience. His  concepts,  judgments,  and  inferences  are  in 
this  respect  strictly  limited.  He  can  not,  in  fact,  be 
taught  to  think  any  more  than  he  can  be  taught  to  see, 
to  hear,  or  to  smell.  All  that  can  be  done  for  him  in 
this  regard  must  be  indirect.  A  normal  mind,  when 
it  comes  into  relation  with  an  appropriate  object,  per- 
ceives or  thinks,  just  as  spontaneously  as  a  normal  finger 
smarts  when  thrust  into  the  flame  of  a  lamp.  At  first 
the  mental  processes  are  not  volitional,  but  automatic; 
afterward,  the  will  appears,  and  finally  assumes  definite 
control  of  the  regulated  mind.  The  child  is  an  original 
thinker,  as  he  is  an  original  observer.  With  slight  change 
of  words,  what  Emerson  says  of  Nature  is  equally  true  of 
society :  "  Nature  is  a  discipline  of  the  understanding  in 
intellectual  truths.  Our  dealing  with  sensible  objects  is 
a  constant  exercise  in  the  necessary  lessons  of  difference, 
of  likeness,  of  order,  of  being  and  seeming,  of  progressive 
arrangement;  of  ascent  from  particular  to  general;  of 
combination  to  one  end  of  manifold  forces.  .  .  .  What 
tedious  training,  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  never  end- 
ing, to  form  the  common  sense."  * 


*  Nature,  chap.  v. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE  CHILD'S  KNOWLEDGE.      31 

Still,  too  much  emphasis  is  often  placed  on  the  sense- 
elements — at  least,  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  each  man  to  repeat  in 
all  particulars  the  experience  of  the  race.  To  do  so, 
under  existing  conditions,  is,  in  fact,  impossible ;  but 
even  if  it  were  possible,  such  a  procedure  would  involve 
great  loss  of  time  and  energy.  The  current  maxim, 
"Never  teach  the  child  anything  that  he  can  find  out 
himself,"  contains  as  much  error  as  truth.  In  respect  to 
many  things,  Roger  Ascham's  observation,  "Learning 
teacheth  more  in  one  year  than  experience  in  twenty," 
is  just  as  true  as  the  converse  would  be  in  respect  to 
other  things.  At  first,  all  the  elements  of  knowledge  are 
sense-elements,  concrete  and  particular  ;  on  these  our  ear- 
liest use  of  language  rests,  and  they  form  the  basis  of  all 
our  knowledge ;  but  as  the  child  ascends  the  educational 
ladder,  the  abstract,  the  general,  and  the  ideal  elements 
will  become  more  and  more  prominent. 

The  present  purpose  is  not  to  inventory  the  child's 
ideas  on  his  arrival  at  the  school,  but  only  to  classify 
them.  To  inventory  them  would  be  impossible,  since  his 
knowledge  is  a  variable  quantity.  His  mind  already  acts 
in  every  sphere  in  which  it  is  capable  of  acting,  but  with 
different  degrees  of  power.  His  perceptive  knowledge 
far  exceeds  his  reflective  knowledge ;  the  field  that  he 
has  made  most  thoroughly  his  own  is  the  material  world, 
and  after  that  the  social  world.  The  value  of  what  he  has 
already  acquired  can  not  be  overestimated,  meagre  as  it 
may  seem  ;  for  this  knowledge,  through  apperception,  will 
exercise  the  profoundest  influence  upon  his  whole  future 
life.  Still  further,  these  first  steps  in  the  path  of  knowl- 
edge are  as  difficult  as  they  are  important.  We  take  these 
steps  when  we  are  too  young  either  to  appreciate  their 
difficulty  or  to  remember  them.    However,  observation  of 


32  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

the  child-life  must  convince  us  that  they  are  the  shortest 
as  well  as  the  most  difficult  steps  that  we  ever  take  in 
the  path  of  knowledge. 

5.  But  the  enumeration  of  the  sources  of  knowledge 
is  not  yet  complete.  The  child  of  six  has  been  brought 
into  contact  with  the  stream  of  tradition  as  well  as  with 
Nature  and  the  social  world.  A  parent  teaches  his  child 
through  explanations,  descriptions,  and  stories,  as  well  as 
by  putting  sense-objects  and  his  own  conduct  or  behaviour 
in  the  child's  way.  This  verbal  or  secondary  knowledge 
the  child  receives  by  the  help  of  his  primal  or  original 
knowledge.  The  ideas,  images,  and  thoughts  that  he  has 
formed  by  using  his  mind  on  real  objects  interpret  to  him 
the  ideas,  images,  and  thoughts  conveyed  by  words.  At 
first  a  word  or  sentence  is  nothing  more  to  him  than  any 
other  sound.  Time,  or  rather  experience,  makes  the  word 
or  sentence  significant,  and  experience  only.  The  culti- 
vation that  comes  from  Nature  and  man  must  precede 
the  cultivation  that  comes  from  spoken  language  as  well 
as  the  cultivation  that  comes  from  books  and  literature. 

Here  our  survey  may  close ;  for  it  will  be  better  to 
deal  with  the  book  when  the  child  enters  the  school- 
house.  And  still  the  remark  may  be  added  that  no  at- 
tempt has  been  made  sharply  to  discriminate  time-rela- 
tions in  the  sequence  of  the  child's  knowledge.  It  is 
enough  for  the  teacher  to  know  that  when  the  child 
reaches  the  school  his  knowledge  is  rapidly  increasing 
and  his  mind  growing  in  all  the  ways  and  directions  that 
have  been  enumerated. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE    CHILD'S   LANGUAGE. 

As  previously  stated,  the  second  duty  of  the  teacher 
is  to  enlarge  and  improve  the  child's  use  of  language; 
enlarge  it  by  expanding  his  vocabulary,  and  improve  it  by 
rendering  his  use  of  words  more  clear,  definite,  and  pre- 
cise. Neither  of  these  things  can  the  teacher  accom- 
plish without  paying  good  heed  to  the  steps  by  which  the 
child's  speech  has  been  formed.  For  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  the  subject,  physiologically  and  psychologically, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  appropriate  sources  ;  an  out- 
line only  is  called  for  in  this  place. 

At  birth  a  child  has_an  instinctive  vocal  utterance, 
which  is  constantly  enlarged  by  exercise.  "  There  is  the 
same  spontaneous  apprenticeship,"  says  M.  Taine,  "  for 
cries  as  for  movements.  The  progress  of  the  vocal  organs 
goes  on  just  like  that  of  the  limbs ;  the  child  learns  to 
emit  such  or  such  a  sound  as  it  learns  to  turn  its  head  or 
its  eyes — that  is  to  say,  by  gropings  and  constant  at- 
tempts." *  The  infant's  first  instinctive  utterances  are 
purely  reflexive,  and  mean  no  more  than  the  quiver  of  a 
nerve  or  the  contraction  of  a  muscle ;  of  thought,  they 
are  as  devoid  as  the  gurgling  of  water  when  it  issues  from 
the  bung  of  a  barrel.     Still,  these  utterances  are  the  raw 


*  On  the  Acquisition  of  Language  by  Children,  Mind,  vol.  ii, 

p.  252. 

33 


34  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

materials  of  speech,  as  sense-impressions  are  the  raw  ma- 
terials of  ideas.  They  are  not  language  save  in  the 
most  indefinite  sense,  but  they  are  a  contribution  that 
heredity  makes  to  the  formation  of  language.  They  are 
correlated  with  physical  states ;  thus,  a  live  coal  dropped 
on  an  infant's  hand  will  cause  it  not  only  to  move  its 
hand,  but  also  to  cry  out.  So  far  the  human  infant  does 
not  differ  from  the  brute  infant,  excejjt  that  it  has  a 
greater  range  of  utterance. 

In  due  time  the  infant  begins  to  use  his  voice  to  ex- 
press mental  states.  By  experience  he  learns  that  certain 
sounds  which  he  hears  convey  meanings,  and  in  the  same 
way  he  learns  to  make  sounds  in  order  to  convey  his  own 
meanings.  He  signals  that  he  is  in  pain,  or  that  he  is  in 
want  of  food.  Slowly  but  surely  vocal  utterance  becomes 
correlated  with  perception,  judgment,  feeling,  and  desire. 
It  is  at  this  stage  that  the  will  enters  the  field  of  activity. 
"  Every  expression  of  thought,"  says  Mr.  Tracy,  "  whether 
it  be  word  or  mark  or  gesture,  is  the  result  of  an  active 
will,  and  as  such  may  be  classed  among  movements."  * 
Still,  the  first  volitional  expressions  do  not  appear  to  be 
significant ;  they  are  mere  vocal  experiments.  By  this  time 
consonants  have  been  added  to  vowels,  and  sounds  have 
become  articulate.  The  result  at  twelve  months  of  age 
in  the  child  whom  he  observed,  M.  Taine  called  "  twitter- 
ing." "  She  takes  delight  in  her  twitter  like  a  bird,  she 
seems  to  smile  with  joy  over  it,  but  as  yet  it  is  only  the 
twittering  of  a  bird,  for  she  attaches  no  meaning  to  the 
sounds  she  utters.  She  has  learned  only  the  materials  of 
language."  f  Even  more,  the  first  words  that  are  uttered 
are  meaningless ;  they  are  not  associated  with  any  object 

*  The  Psychology  of  Childhood,  p.  115,  second  edition. 
f  Mind,  vol.  ii,  p.  252. 


THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   CHILD'S  LANGUAGE.        35 

that  marks  the  advent  of  proper  language ;  so  that  the 
child's  first  word,  which  is  hailed  with  so  much  interest 
by  fond  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  is  important  as  a 
promise  rather  than  as  an  achievement. 

The  next  step  is  the  use  of  words  with  meanings.  With 
the  expression  of  ideas,  feelings,  and  wants  in  articulate 
words,  proper  language  begins.  Here  the  human  infant 
parts  company  for  good  with  the  brute  infant.  The 
oaths  of  poor  Poll,  being  purely  mechanical,  are  not  ac- 
counted profanity.  From  this  time  on  the  knowledge 
and  the  language  of  the  normal  child  in  general  march  to- 
gether pari  passu ;  knowledge  advancing  to  the  furthest 
reach  of  thought  and  the  loftiest  creations  of  the  imagi- 
nation, language  advancing  to  the  fit  expression  of  all  that 
thought  can  think  or  imagination  picture.  Here  we  are 
brought  back  again  to  the  correlation  of  the  two  factors. 
The  child's  mental  development  is  measured  approxi- 
mately by  the  rapidity  of  his  progress  toward  a  skilful 
manipulation  of  the  instruments  of  expression ;  on  the 
other  hand,  thought  itself  attains  to  generality  through 
the  aid  of  language. 

Such,  in  outline,  appears  to  be  the  process  by  which 
the  instinctive  vocal  utterance  of  the  infant  is  transformed 
into  the  vernacular  speech  of  the  youth  and  the  adult. 
Still,  this  transformation  would  never  be  effected  without 
the  intervention  of  agents  yet  to  be  mentioned.  These 
must  be  enumerated. 

The  first  of  these  agents  is  instinctive  mimicry ;  the 
child  unconsciously  imitates  the  sounds  that  he  hears. 

The  second  agent  is  conscious  mimicry ;  the  child 
intentionally  imitates  or  reproduces  sounds  that  he  has 
heard.  Imitation  begins  before  the  child  has  made  dis- 
covery of  the  fact  that  sounds  convey  meanings,  and  it  is 
accelerated  when  that  discovery  is  made.      Just  as  the 


3G  TEACHING  TriE   LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

discovery  of  the  uses  of  walking  re-enforces  the  child's  dis- 
position to  use  his  legs  that  results  from  the  pleasure  of 
activity,  so  the  discovery  of  the  significance  of  sounds 
stimulates  the  desire  to  make  them.  The  process  of  cor- 
relating states  of  mind  and  sounds,  as  words,  is  a  slow  one, 
but  it  is  greatly  facilitated  by  the  pleasure  that  the  child 
finds  in  mere  vocal  experimentation.  It  may  also  be 
observed  that  the  difficulty  of  making  this  correlation — 
that  is,  of  associating  meanings  with  sounds — has  a  moral 
as  well  as  an  intellectual  bearing.* 

Imitation  explains  the  utterance  of  words  by  the  child 
without  meaning.  It  is  a  habit  that  the  child  begins, 
and  that  the  adult,  with  less  excuse,  continues.  M.  Taine 
wrote  of  the  child  that  he  studied,  when  she  was  about 
fifteen  months  old  :  " '  Papa '  was  pronounced  for  more 
than  a  fortnight  unintentionally  and  without  meaning,  as 
a  mere  twitter,  an  easy  and  amusing  articulation.     It  was 

*  This  point  is  thus  touched  by  Jean  Paul  in  a  passage  quoted 
by  Radestock  (Habit,  page  84) :  "  In  the  first  five  years  our  children 
say  no  true  word  and  no  lying  one  ;  they  only  talk.  Their  speak- 
ing is  a  loud  thinking  ;  but  as  often  one  half  of  the  thought  is  Yes 
and  the  other  No,  and  they,  unlike  us,  utter  both ;  they  appear  to 
lie,  while  they  only  speak  to  themselves.  Furthermore,  they  enjoy 
playing  with  the  art  of  speech  new  to  them  ;  thus  they  often  speak 
nonsense,  only  to  listen  to  their  own  knowledge  of  language."  This 
may  be  somewhat  exaggerated,  but  is  true  in  the  main.  We  are  so 
in  the  habit  of  attributing  ethical  significance  to  language,  that  it 
is  hard  for  us  to  appreciate  the  difficulty  with  which  that  associa- 
tion is  practically  established.  At  first  the  child  has  no  more 
idea  of  telling  the  truth  with  his  tongue  than  he  has  of  telling 
it  with  his  eyelids  or  toes.  As  Jean  Paul  says,  the  organs  of  speech 
are  things  to  play  with  like  the  other  organs  of  the  body.  The 
idea  that  there  is  a  special  relation  existing  between  speech  and 
veracity,  that  by  our  words  we  are  justified  and  by  our  own  words 
condemned,  comes  with  the  development  of  speech  and  of  the 
moral  sense. 


TIIE  ORIGIN  OP  THE   CHILD'S  LANGUAGE.        37 

later  that  the  association  between  the  word  and  the  image 
or  perception  of  the  object  was  fixed,  that  the  image  or 
perception  of  her  father  called  to  her  lips  the  sound  papa, 
that  the  word  uttered  by  another  definitely  and  regularly 
called  up  in  her  the  remembrance,  image,  expectation  of, 
and  search  for,  her  father.  There  was  an  insensible  tran- 
sition from  the  one  state  to  the  other,  which  it  is  difficult 
to  unravel.  The  first  state  still  returns  at  certain  times, 
though  the  second  is  established ;  she  still  sometimes 
plays  with  the  sound,  though  she  understands  its  mean- 
ing." * 

Father,  mother,  sister,  brother,  nurse,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  child's  social  circle  act  upon  the  child  in  two 
ways,  unconsciously  and  consciously  ;  in  both  ways  they 
set  him  copies  or  models  and  constantly  stimulate  his 
activity.  Thus  the  members  of  the  family  become  his 
teachers  ;  commonly  they  are  as  anxious  to  teach  as  the 
child  is  to  learn  ;  but,  whether  anxious  to  teach  or  not, 
they  do  teach  constantly,  both  by  setting  copies  and  by 
furnishing  stimulus  to  talk.  "  Baby  say  so ! "  with  an 
appropriate  illustration,  is  a  constant  exhortation  that  an- 
swers both  purposes. 

Instinctive  vocal  utterance  is  the  first  contribution,  and 
the  power  of  imitation  the  second  contribution,  that  Na- 
ture makes  to  speech.  Given  instinctive  utterance,  it  is 
imitation  that  makes  speech  education  possible. 

"  It  is  obvious  at  a  glance,"  says  Mr.  Tracy,  "  that 
speech  is  a  product  of  the  conjoint  operation  of  these  two 
factors :  heredity  and  education.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  we 
observe  the  initial  babbling  of  the  infant,  and  notice  its 
marvellous  flexibility,  and  the  enormous  variety  of  its  in- 
tonations and  inflections — and  this  at  an  age  so  early  as 


*  Mind,  vol.  ii,  p.  254. 


38  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

to  preclude  observation  and  imitation  of  others, — it  will 
be  apparent  that  the  child  has  come  into  the  world  al- 
ready possessing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  equipment 
by  which  he  shall  in  after-years  give  expression  to  his 
feelings  and  thoughts.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  care- 
fully observe  him  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  life, 
and  note  how  the  intonations,  and  afterward  the  words, 
of  those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded  are  given  back  by 
him — at  first  unconsciously,  but  afterwards  with  intention 
— and  how,  when  conscious  imitation  has  once  set  in,  it 
plays  thenceforth  the  predominating  role,  we  shall  readily 
believe  that,  without  this  second  factor,  but  little  prog- 
ress would  be  made  toward  speech  acquirement."  * 

Nature,  then,  supplies  the  instinctive  tendency  and  ca- 
pacity to  speak,  and  also  the  power  that  moulds  the  mind 
and  the  vocal  organs  according  to  the  conventional  stand- 
ard of  speech.  At  what  time  the  child  begins  to  per- 
ceive that  sounds  convey  meanings,  and  accordingly  tries 
to  talk,  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  mere  love  of  imitation  is  an 
earlier  impulse,  f 


*  The  Psychology  of  Childhood,  p.  116. 

f  Mr.  Darwin  says  the  sounds  uttered  by  birds  offer  in  several 
aspects  the  nearest  analogy  to  language ;  all  the  members  of  the 
same  species  utter  the  same  instinctive  cries  expressive  of  their 
emotions ;  and  all  the  kinds  that  have  the  power  of  singing  exert 
this  power  instinctively ;  but  the  actual  song,  and  even  the  call- 
notes,  are  learned  from  their  parents  or  foster-parents.  These 
sounds  are  no  more  innate  than  language  is  in  man.  The  first  at- 
tempt to  sing  may  be  compared  to  the  imperfect  endeavour  in  a 
child  to  babble.  The  young  males  continue  practising  for  ten  or 
eleven  months.  Their  first  essays  show  hardly  a  rudiment  of  the 
future  song;  but  as  they  grow  older  we  can  perceive  what  they 
are  aiming  at ;  and  at  last  they  are  said  "  to  sing  their  song  round." 
Nestlings  that  have  learned  the  songs  of  a  distant  species,  as 
with  the  canary  birds  educated  in  the  Tyrol,  teach  and  transmit 


THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE  CHILD'S  LANGUAGE.        39 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  in  the  early  process  of 
speech  education  imitation  is  the  master  agent,  indeed 
the  sole  agent.  It  determines  (1)  whether  the  child  shall 
talk  like  a  man,  howl  like  a  wolf,  growl  like  a  bear,  or 
bark  like  a  dog ;  (2)  whether  he  shall  speak  the  English, 
the  French,  or  some  other  language  ;  and  (3)  whether  he 
shall  speak  this  language  with  purity  and  propriety,  or 
with  dialectical,  provincial,  or  family  peculiarities  of 
form,  pronunciation,  or  accent.  The  boy  was  right  who 
gave  as  a  reason  for  drawling  his  words,  "  Mother — drawls 
— hern."  The  normal  child  who  is  accustomed  to  good 
English  and  nothing  else,  uses  good  English.  The  man 
who  "  talks  like  a  book "  is  the  man  who  has  been 
moulded  by  book  language.  Thus,  a  man's  language  is  a 
measure  of  the  company  he  has  kept,  as  well  as  of  him- 
self. His  speech  shows  the  quality  of  his  home  and  his 
social  surroundings.  Perhaps  a  child  has  an  inherited 
tendency  to  the  language  of  his  country  or  his  family,  as 
the  German  to  German,  the  Frenchman  to  French,  but  if 
such  be  the  fact  imitation -easily  overcomes  the  tendency. 
Speech,  therefore,  is  eminently  a  social  phenomenon. 
"Language  is  possible  in  all  normal  children,"  says  Mr. 
Tracy  ;  "  it  becomes  actual  only  in  the  presence  of  a  com- 
panion. But  given  the  companion,  and  scarcely  any 
limit  can  be  set  to  the  possibilities  of  development."* 
However,  the  companionship  must  be  a  real  one.  The 
reason  why  the  child  born  deaf  is  also  born  mute  is  not 
because  he  is  destitute  of  instinctive  utterance,  but  be- 

their  new  song  to  their  offspring.  The  slight  natural  differences 
of  song  in  the  same  species  inhabiting  different  districts  may  be 
appositely  compared  to  provincial  dialects ;  and  the  songs  of  allied 
though  distinct  species  may  be  compared  with  the  language  of  dis- 
tinct races  of  men. — The  Descent  of  Man,  vol.  i,  pp.  53,  54. 
*  The  Psychology  of  Childhood,  p.  118. 


40  TEACHING   TI1E  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

cause  he  can  not  imitate  sounds ;  when  he  does  learn  to 
talk,  if  ever,  it  is  by  watching  and  imitating  the  motions 
of  another's  lips. 

In  this  analysis  we  have  found  no  trace  of  rule 
or  formal  method.  As  far  as  we  have  gone,  neither 
rule  nor  method  has  played  any  part  whatever  in  the 
process.  In  learning  to  talk,  the  child  receives  much 
correction,  but  no  precepts.  He  follows  example  or 
copy :  use  and  wont  do  the  work.  While  it  is  impos- 
sible nicely  to  assign  to  either  kind  of  imitation  its  own 
due  effect,  we  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  we  con- 
stantly tend  to  underestimate  the  unconscious  or  instinc- 
tive element. 

Accordingly,  the  child's  vernacular  speech  results  from 

the  training  of  an  instinctive  function.  It  grows  with  his 
growth  and  strengthens  with  his  strength.  It  is  part  and 
parcel  of  his  mind  and  character,  and  perhaps  of  his 
physical  organization.  It  is  woven  into  the  very  texture  of 
his  being.  It  is  his  linguistic  integument,  fitting  him  as 
nicely  as  his  skin.  Moreover,  it  must  be  expanded  and 
renovated  in  a  way  similar  to  that  in  which  it  was  formed. 
One  can  not  lay  off  his  linguistic  habit  and  put  on  another 
that  is  more  to  his  liking,  as  he  may  a  coat.  He  must 
grow  it  off,  as  the  stag  grows  off  his  horns  ;  slough  it, 
as  the  snake  sloughs  his  skin.  And  yet,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  criticism  will  facilitate  the  process. 

Note. — The  ancients  clearly  saw  the  function  of  imitation  in 
education.  Plato  devotes  much  space  to  the  subject,  discussing  the 
office  of  imitation  in  dancing,  language,  music,  painting,  science, 
literary  style,  and  in  the  formation  of  the  character  itself  (Laws,  ii, 
655,  668;  Cratylus,  423,  426,  427;  Republic,  iii,  393,  394).  Xen- 
ophon  also  lays  stress  upon  imitation,  holding  virtually  that  it  is 
the  most  effective  way  to  teach  children  behaviour  and  manners 
(Cyropaedia,  i,  2).  Aristotle  discusses  the  relation  of  mimesis  to 
art  (Rhetoric,  i,  11 ;  Politics,  i,  1,  23).     Aristotle  also  enjoins  the 


TIIE  ORIGIN  OP  THE  CHILD'S  LANGUAGE.       41 

directors  of  education  to  be  careful  what  tales  or  stories  children 
hear,  and  also  to  see  that  they  are  left  as  little  as  possible  with  slaves 
(Politics,  vii,  17).  The  Greeks  were  very  particular  about  the  lan- 
guage that  their  children  acquired  through  personal  contact  with 
others  (see  Mahaffy :  Old  Greek  Education,  p.  13).  Plutarch,  in  his 
well-known  essay  entitled  Of  the  Training  of  Children,  urges  that 
the  companions  of  children  shall  be  well  bred  and  shall  speak  plain, 
natural  Greek,  "  lest,  being  constantly  used  to  converse  with  persons 
of  a  barbarous  language  and  evil  manners,  they  receive  corrupt  tinc- 
tures from  them.  For  it  is  a  true  proverb  '  that  if  you  live  with  a 
lame  man  you  will  learn  to  halt.' "  Of  all  the  writers  of  antiquity 
who  touch  the  subject  of  education,  Quintilian  most  abounds  in 
practical  thoughts.  He  understood  perfectly  the  part  that  imita- 
tion plays  in  the  language-arts.  He  laid  stress  upon  the  function 
of  the  nurse.  Before  all  things  let  the  talk  of  the  child's  nurse  not 
be  ungrammatical.  To  the  morals  of  nurses,  doubtless,  attention 
should  first  be  paid  ;  "  but  let  them  also  speak  with  propriety.  It 
is  they  that  the  child  will  hear  first ;  it  is  their  words  that  he  will 
try  to  form  by  imitation.  We  are  by  nature  most  tenacious  of  what 
we  have  imbibed  in  our  infant  years,  as  the  flavour  with  which  you 
scent  vessels  when  new  remains  in  them  ;  nor  can  the  colours  of 
wool,  for  which  its  plain  whiteness  has  been  exchanged,  be  effaced  : 
and  those  very  habits  which  are  of  a  more  objectionable  nature 
adhere  with  the  greater  tenacity  ;  for  good  ones  are  easily  changed 
for  the  worse,  but  when  will  you  change  bad  ones  into  the  good  ? 
Let  the  child  not  be  accustomed,  therefore,  even  while  he  is  yet  an 
infant,  to  phraseology  which  must  be  unlearned." — (Institutes  of  Ora- 
tory, i,  1,  15,  Watson's  translation).  As  to  the  parents,  Quintilian 
would  by  all  means  have  them  persons  of  learning ;  as  to  the  play- 
fellows and  companions  of  young  gentlemen,  he  made  the  same 
recommendations  as  concerning  nurses.  The  Roman  professor  fully 
recognised  the  fact  that  correction  and  criticism  were  second  to  im- 
itation. 

Roger  Ascham  says : — 

"  Imitation  is  a  facultie  to  expresse  liuelie  and  perfitelie  that 
example :  which  ye  go  about  to  follow.  And  of  it  selfe,  it  is  large 
and  wide :  for  all  the  workes  of  nature,  in  a  manner  be  examples 
for  arte  to  follow. 

"  But  to  our  purpose,  all  languages,  both  learned  and  mother 
tonges,  be  gotten,  and  gotten  onlie  by  imitation.    For  as  ye  vse  to 


42  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

heare,  so  ye  learne  to  speake :  if  ye  heare  no  other,  ye  speake  not 
your  selfe :  and  whome  ye  onlie  heare,  of  them  ye  onlie  learne. 

"  And,  therefore,  if  ye  would  speake  as  the  best  and  wisest  do, 
ye  must  be  conuersant,  where  the  best  and  wisest  are:  but  if  you  be 
borne  or  brought  up  in  a  rude  countrie,  ye  shall  not  chose  but 
speake  rudelie :  the  rudest  man  of  all  knoweth  this  to  be  trewe." — 
(The  Scholemaster.) 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS    IN    THE    LOWER    GRADES. 

To  adopt  Professor  Laurie's  admirable  analysis,  lan- 
guage may  be  studied  under  three  aspects,  as  follows  : — 

1.  As  the  substance  of  thought.  This  means  the  con- 
tent or  meaning  of  language,  and  relates,  of  course,  to  its 
characteristic  function.  This  aspect  of  language  is  uni- 
versal, but  there  is  no  particular  study  that  deals  with  it. 

2.  As  the  form  of  thought.  This  means  the  reflexive 
study  of  language ;  the  study,  not  of  the  substance  that 
the  language  conveys  as  a  vehicle,  but  of  the  vehicle  itself. 
This  aspect  of  language  is  called  grammar,  and  its  educa- 
tional value  will  be  explained  hereafter. 

3.  As  an  art.  This  means  literature  as  such,  or  liter- 
ary art.  There  is  no  formal  study  that  is  coextensive 
with  this  aspect  of  language,  but  it  is  included  in  esthet- 
ics, or  what  Lord  Kames  called  "criticism."  Here  we 
deal  with  the  ideal  elements  of  lan^ua^e. 

Thus  language  is  a  real  study,  a  formal  study,  and  an 
art  study.  As  "  substance  of  thought,"  says  Laurie,  "  lan- 
guage instructs  and  fills  the  mind  of  youth  with  the  words 
of  wisdom,  with  the  material  of  knowledge,  and  guides  it  to 
the  meaning  and  motives  of  a  rational  existence,  and  while 
doing  all  this  it  at  the  same  time  trains  the  intelligence  : 
as  a  formal  study,  it  further  disciplines  the  intelligence, 
and  gives  vigour  and  discriminative  force  to  intellectual 

43 


44:  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE -ARTS. 

operations  in  all  the  relations  of  the  human  mind  to 
things,  and  therefore  to  the  conduct  of  life :  as  literature, 
.  .  .  language  cultivates,  by  opening  the  mind  to  a  per- 
ception of  the  beautiful  in  form  and  the  ideal  in  thought 
and  action.  It  does  this  by  bringing  the  prosaic  truths 
of  goodness  and  duty  into  the  sphere  of  the  idea,  and  so 
evoking  and  directing  those  aspirations,  inherent  in  rea- 
son, which  find  their  highest  expression  in  spiritual  re- 
alities." * 

It  will  be  seen  that  literature,  properly  so  called,  is 
something  wholly  different  from  the  grammatical  struc- 
ture of  language,  and  in  great  part  different  also  from  its 
concrete  substance.  Literature  and  language,  or  rather 
literature  and  printed  language,  are  by  no  means  co- 
extensive. This  third  aspect  of  the  subject,  the  aesthetic 
one,  will  claim  our  attention  in  a  later  chapter. 

Now,  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  in  the  first  stage  of 
school  life  the  child  can  do  nothing  with  language  as  the 
form  of  thought  or  as  beauty  of  expression.  He  can  not 
enter  upon  grammar  or  upon  literary  art.  But  with  lan- 
guage as  substance  of  thought,  or  reality,  he  can  deal,  pro- 
vided this  substance  is  properly  handled.  He  can  not, 
indeed,  be  expected  at  first  to  receive  new  knowledge  or 
new  ideas  from  the  printed  page.  For  the  time  his 
strength  is  mainly  absorbed  in  the  technical  elements  of 
reading;  he  can  do  nothing  more  on  the  thought  side 
than  to  associate  old  ideas  with  their  printed  symbols  ;  and 
so  some  time  must  elapse  before  reading  can  become  to  him 
a  source  of  real  knowledge.  He  may  all  the  time  be  add- 
ing, and  should  all  the  time  be  adding,  to  his  real  knowl- 
edge through  direct  contact  with  thought-material ;  his 
studies  of  things  and  his  study  of  the  art  of  reading  should 


*  Language  and  Linguistic  Method,  p.  96. 


TIIE  LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN   THE   LOWER  GRADES.  45 

be  as  closely  connected  as  possible ;  but  it  still  remains 
true  that,  at  this  stage  of  progress,  reading  itself,  or  read- 
ing proper,  is  not  a  source  of  such  knowledge.  The 
teacher  must  take  the  child  where  she  finds  him  in  re- 
spect to  both  mental  and  language  power,  and  seek  to 
develop  him  in  both  directions.  The  principal  methods 
or  devices  that  may  be  employed  will  now  be  enumerated. 

1.  The  first  means  to  be  employed  by  the  teacher  is 
conversations  with  the  class  on  suitable  subjects  suggest- 
ed by  the  incidents  of  everyday  life  in  school  and  out 
of  school.  The  pupils  should  be  encouraged  to  engage 
freely  in  these  conversations,  encouraged  to  reproduce 
their  own  observation  and  experience.  While  the  lan- 
guage used  by  the  teacher  should  be  somewhat  in  advance 
of  that  habitually  used  by  the  class,  it  should  yet  be  with- 
in their  comprehension.  Judgment  and  tact  will  prevent 
the  introduction  of  improper  subjects.* 

2.  The  second  means  is  tales  and  stories  in  prose  and 

*  How  potent  a  means  of  education  communication  is,  Lord  Ba- 
con suggests  in  his  essay  entitled  Of  Friendship.  "Certain  it  is," 
he  says,  "  that  whosoever  hath  his  mind  fraught  with  many  thoughts, 
his  wits  and  understanding  do  clarify  and  break  up,  in  the  commu- 
nicating and  discoursing  with  another:  he  tosseth  his  thoughts 
more  easily ;  he  marshaleth  them  more  orderly ;  he  seeth  how 
they  look  when  they  are  turned  into  words ;  finally,  he  waxeth 
wiser  than  himself ;  and  that  more  by  an  hour's  discourse  than  by 
a  day's  meditation.  It  was  well  said  by  Themistocles  to  the  King 
of  Persia,  that  speech  was  like  cloth  of  Arras,  opened  and  put 
abroad  ;  whereby  the  imagery  doth  appear  in  figure ;  whereas  in 
thoughts  they  lie  but  as  in  packs.  Neither  is  this  second  fruit  of 
friendship,  in  opening  the  understanding,  restrained  only  to  such 
friends  as  are  able  to  give  a  man  counsel  (they,  indeed,  are  best) :  but 
even  without  that,  a  man  learneth  of  himself,  and  bringeth  his  own 
thoughts  to  light,  and  whetteth  his  wits  as  against  a  stone,  which 
itself  cuts  not.  In  a  word,  a  man  were  better  relate  himself  to  a 
statua  or  picture  than  to  suffer  his  thoughts  to  pass  in  smother." 


46  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

verse.  At  first  the  teacher  should  herself  tell  or  read 
the  stories  and  tales  ;  then  make  them  the  subject  of  con- 
versation, requiring  the  pupils  to  reproduce  them  in  their 
own  words  as  fully  as  possible.  Fairyland  may  be  drawn 
upon  as  well  as  history,  travel,  and  biography.  To  those 
educationists  who  object  that  fairy  tales  are  fictitious,  and 
that  only  the  real  should  be  taught,  Professor  Laurie  re- 
plies that  "  the  imagination  of  little  children  is  very  active 
in  the  sphere  of  the  possible  and  impossible ;  that  this  nor- 
mal activity  of  the  imagination  contributes  largely  to  the 
growth,  culture,  and  enrichment  of  mind  ;  and  that  it  has 
to  be  taken  advantage  of  by  the  educator  who  respects 
law  wherever  he  finds  it."  "Where  would  Homer  and 
Sophocles  have  been,"  he  asks,  "had  they  not  imbibed 
mythological  lore  with  their  mother's  milk  ?  Even  the 
genius  of  Shakespeare  would  have  perished  in  the  thirsty 
desert  of  a  childhood  of  bare  facts."  He  further  affirms 
that  "  what  applies  to  children  applies  a  fortiori  to  the 
adult ;  and  that  fiction,  the  drama,  and  art  ought,  in  con- 
sistency, to  be  excluded  from  all  life  by  those  who  would 
deny  the  unreal  to  children.  It  might  also  be  shown  .  .  . 
that  in  the  active  imaginations  of  children  and  their  ap- 
preciation of  fairy  stories,  we  see  at  work,  in  a  rudi- 
mentary way,  the  capacity  for  the  ideals  of  art  and  re- 
ligion." *  There  is  reason  to  think  that  at  present  we  tend 
to  make  the  education  of  the  child  too  matter-of-fact,  too 
scientific,  forgetting  that  the  child  has  imagination  and 
emotion  as  well  as  logical  faculties.  What  could  be  better 
than  the  following  from  Mr.  Lowell  ? — 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that  what  the  understanding  would 
stigmatize  as  useless  is  coming  back  into  books  written 
for  children,  which  at  one  time  threatened  to  become  more 

*  Lectures  on  Language  and  Linguistic  Method,  pp.  29,  30. 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN   THE   LOWER   GRADES.  47 

and  more  drearily  practical  and  didactic.  The  fairies  are 
permitted  once  more  to  imprint  their  rings  on  the  tender 
sward  of  the  child's  fancy,  and  it  is  the  child's  fancy  that 
often  lives  obscurely  on  to  minister  solace  to  the  lonelier 
and  less  sociable  mind  of  the  man.  Our  nature  resents 
the  closing  up  of  the  windows  on  its  emotional  and  im- 
aginative side,  and  revenges  itself  as  it  can.  ...  In  a  last 
analysis  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  to  the  sense  of  Wonder 
that  all  literature  of  the  Fancy  and  of  the  Imagination 
appeals.  I  am  told  that  this  sense  is  the  survival  in  us  of 
some  savage  ancestor  of  the  age  of  flint.  If  so,  I  am 
thankful  to  him  for  his  longevity,  or  his  transmitted  na- 
ture, whichever  it  may  be.  But  I  have  my  own  suspicion 
sometimes  that  the  true  age  of  flint  is  before  and  not  be- 
hind us,  an  age  hardening  itself  more  and  more  to  those 
subtle  influences  which  ransom  our  lives  from  the  cap- 
tivity of  the  actual,  from  that  dungeon  whose  warder  is 
the  Giant  Despair.  Yet  I  am  consoled  by  thinking  that 
the  siege  of  Troy  will  be  remembered  when  those  of  Vicks- 
burg  and  Paris  are  forgotten.  One  of  the  old  dramatists, 
Thorns  Hey  wood,  has,  without  meaning  it,  set  down  for 
us  the  uses  of  the  poets  : 

"  '  They  cover  us  with  counsel  to  defend  us 
From  storms  without ;  they  polish  us  within 
With  learning,  knowledge,  arts,  and  disciplines ; 
All  that  is  naught  and  vicious  they  sweep  from  us 
Like  dust  and  cobwebs  ;  our  rooms  concealed 
Hang  with  the  costliest  hangings  'bout  the  walls 
Emblems  and  beauteous  symbols  pictured  round.' "  * 

3.  At  this  stage  of  progress  object  lessons  are  a  useful 
mode  of  teaching  language  as  well  as  of  teaching  sensible 
qualities.  The  method  is  to  make  objects  subjects  of 
conversation.     It  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  historical 


*  The  Old  English  Dramatists,  pp.  131,  132 


48  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

steps  by  which  knowledge  advances.  We  must  remember 
that  education  had  not  only  begun,  but  made  considerable 
advancement,  before  the  invention  of  letters ;  that  men's 
minds  were  first  formed  through  contact  with  the  natural 
world  and  with  one  another ;  that  what  the  individual  ac- 
cumulated, he  delivered  by  word  of  mouth  to  others  ;  that 
for  long  the  oral  teacher  was  the  only  teacher  ;  that  mem- 
ory, left  dependent  upon  itself,  performed  miracles,  and 
that  tradition  became  a  great  instrument  of  cultivation. 
Books  and  printing  have  changed  all  this  to  a  great  extent. 
Belying  upon  books  as  we  do,  and  accustomed  as  we  are 
to  associate  ignorance  and  incapacity  with  illiteracy,  we 
find  difficulty  in  appreciating  the  heights  to  which  men 
have  sometimes  attained  who  were  strangers  to  the  printed 
page.  "The  Hebrew  patriarchs  had  small  libraries,  I 
think,  if  any,"  says  the  Autocrat ;  "  yet  they  represent  to 
our  imaginations  a  very  complete  idea  of  manhood  ;  and,  I 
think,  if  we  could  ask  in  Abraham  to  dine  with  us  men 
of  letters  next  Saturday,  we  should  feel  honoured  by  his 
company."  It  is  important  to  remember  the  sources  of 
the  primitive  culture  of  the  race,  for  they  are  still  the 
sources  of  the  first  culture  of  the  individual.  Letters  did 
not  abolish  our  natural  senses  and  mental  faculties, 
although  they  have,  most  unfortunately,  sometimes  pro- 
moted their  decay. 

4.  The  reading  lessons  are  a  most  important  agency 
in  language  teaching.  These  should  be  well  discussed 
and  understood  by  the  pupils.  While  the  readers  used  in 
the  school  should  meet  the  child  nearly  on  his  own  level, 
intellectual  and  linguistic,  they  should  also  tend  to  en- 
large his  knowledge  and  his  vocabulary;  they  should 
point  upward.  This  important  subject  will  not  be  more 
fully  discussed  here,  since  it  will  be  made  the  subject  of 
a  separate  chapter. 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN   THE   LOWER  GRADES.  49 

5.  Selections  of  poetry  should  be  committed  to  memory 
to  be  recited,  to  be  sung,  to  be  made  the  subject  of  con- 
versation. This  exercise  may  be  conducted  on  a  generous 
scale ;  it  will  confer  some  knowledge,  but  especially  will 
it  develop  and  refine  the  vocabulary,  provided  the  selec- 
tions are  properly  made.  Furthermore,  it  will  develop 
taste.  Beautiful  poems  committed  to  memory  in  child- 
hood will  be  a  perennial  wellspring  of  cultivation  and 
delight.  Nor  is  it  necessary,  or  even  advisable  perhaps, 
that  the  pupil  should  understand  all  the  passages  that  he 
learns.  At  this  point  persons  who  overestimate  the  in- 
tellectual elements  of  education  commit  a  mistake.  Pas- 
sages that  are  but  faintly  understood,  may  strongly  move 
the  imagination  and  mould  the  feelings.  Who  that  leads 
an  intellectual  life  does  not  every  now  and  then,  for  the 
first  time,  really  see  into  some  passage  which  he  committed 
to  memory  in  childhood?  * 

6.  The  last  agent  to  be  mentioned  is  written  exercises. 
Sentences,  stanzas,  and  short  paragraphs  should  be  copied. 
At  the  beginning  the  slate  or  loose  pieces  of  paper  may 
be  used,  but  afterward  a  book  should  be  provided  for  the 
purpose.  The  exercise  may  be  copied  from  the  blackboard 
or  a  book,  or  may  be  taken  down  from  the  teacher's  dic- 
tation. These  exercises,  though  simple,  should  always  con- 
tain a  thought  of  value  to  the  child.  A  few  simple  rules 
should  be  furnished  by  the  teacher  and  be  strictly  insisted 
upon — such,  for  example,  as  these :  "  The  sentence  should 
always  begin  with  a  capital  letter."  "  Proper  names 
should  begin  with  a  capital."     "  The  completed  sentence 

*  Sir  Walter  Scott  understood  this  matter  much  better  than 
some  schoolmasters.  "  Children,"  he  wrote,  "  derive  impulses  of  a 
powerful  and  important  kind  from  hearing  things  that  they  can  not 
entirely  comprehend.  It  is  a  mistake  to  write  down  to  their  under- 
standings.    Set  them  on  the  scent,  and  let  them  puzzle  it  out." 


50  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

should  be  marked  by  the  period  or  the  question  mark.'1 
The  pupil  will  have  no  difficulty,  in  plain  cases,  in  dis- 
tinguishing between  the  sentence  that  says  something  and 
the  question  that  asks  something.  Such  exercises  as 
these  teach  spelling,  penmanship,  and  expression  all  at 
the  same  time. 

But  more  than  this.  The  pupils  should  compose  origi- 
nal exercises  from  the  very  beginning.  The  first  sen- 
tences should  not  differ  from  the  corresponding  oral  ones, 
save  in  the  employment  of  written  language  in  the  room 
of  oral  language.  At  first  ideas  should  be  furnished  or 
suggested,  as  well  as  the  subject  itself;  afterward  only 
the  subject  or  topic,  while  the  pupil  is  left  to  supply  ideas 
and  words.  At  a  still  later  stage  of  progress  the  pupil 
should  be  thrown  wholly  upon  his  own  resources,  leaving 
him  to  find  subject,  ideas,  and  language.  Such  exercises 
naturally  connect  themselves  with  object  lessons,  as  the 
primary  books  devoted  to  language  lessons  amply  illus- 
trate. These  original  sentences  are  the  germ  of  the 
future  theme  or  essay. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  of  method  should  be  ac- 
companied by  several  remarks. 

First,  as  has  been  intimated,  these  suggestions  have 
more  value  than  at  first  appears.  The  words  "  language  " 
and  "  literature "  are  far  from  exhausting  their  value. 
For  example,  it  is  through  stories  and  tales  that  Ger- 
man teachers  lay  the  foundation  of  that  admirable  work 
in  history  which  is  the  praise  of  the  German  schools. 
The  Herbart-Ziller  school  of  pedagogists,  who  lay  such 
great  stress  upon  history,  say  instruction  should  begin  at 
the  beginning  of  school  life.  Holding  that  the  child's 
love  for  stories  is  the  first  awakening  of  his  mind  to 
historic  interest,  they  make  it  their  first  endeavour  to 
stimulate  this  love  by  systematic  story-telling.     The  art 


THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN   THE  LOWER  GRADES.   51 

of  telling  a  story  they  regard  as  the  final  test  of  a  teach- 
er's skill,  and  they  assign  it  a  prominent  place  in  normal 
school  instruction.  Still  farther,  they  have  worked  out  a 
primary  programme  in  accordance  with  their  pedagogical 
scheme.  They  have  arranged  a  number  of  Grimm's  tales, 
which  they  make  the  centre  of  instruction  for  the  first 
school  year.  These  stories  are  told  and  retold  by  the  teacher, 
reproduced  item  by  item  by  the  children,  and  around  them 
are  clustered  moral  and  religious  sentiments,  material  in- 
formation, and  illustrative  object  lessons.  The  next  year, 
connected  stories  from  Robinson  Crusoe  are  treated  in  the 
same  mauner.  Then  come  selected  tales  from  the  Old 
Testament,  and  still  later  selections  from  the  Odyssey,  the 
Norse  Sagas,  Shakespeare,  Herodotus,  Livy,  Xenophon, 
and  others  in  due  order.  In  this  way  the  historical  sense 
is  developed  and  centres  of  interest  created  before  tech- 
nical instruction  begins.* 

The  poems  that  are  committed  to  memory  should  be 
selected  with  reference  to  their  ethical  value.  President 
Eliot,  of  Harvard  University,  expresses  a  common  expe- 
rience when  he  says,  "  I  hold  in  my  memory  bits  of  po- 
etry, learned  in  childhood,  which  have  stood  me  in  good 
stead  through  life  in  the  struggle  to  keep  true  to  just 
ideals  of  love  and  duty."     The  old  poet  George  Herbert 

is  right : 

"  A  verse  may  find  him  who  a  sermon  flies." 

Properly  managed,  instruction  in  the  language-arts  devel- 
ops the  historical,  the  ethical,  and  the  literary  sense,  as 
well  as  power  to  think  and  power  to  express  thought. 

Secondly,  association  continues  to  work  as  before,  but 
under  somewhat  new  conditions.  Here,  again,  are  the 
two  forms  of  imitation,  the  instinctive  and  the  conscious, 

*  See  the  author's  How  to  Study  and  Teach  History,  chap.  v. 


52  TEACHING  TEE   LANGUAGE-ARTS.  f, 

and  the  scope  of  their  activity  is  increased  through  the 
enlargement  of  environment.  The  school  is  now  added 
to  the  family  and  to  the  social  circle — the  school  consist- 
ing of  the  teacher  and  the  scholars.  The  last  are  a  po- 
tent factor.  "  You  send  your  boy  to  the  schoolmaster," 
says  Emerson,  "  but  it  is  the  schoolboys  who  educate 
him."  Sometimes  the  school  shows  an  improvement  and 
sometimes  a  deterioration  in  the  linguistic  environment ; 
but,  on  the  average,  we  may  believe  that  the  new  stage 
in  child  life  shows  improved  conditions.  The  linguistic 
effect  of  pupil  upon  pupil  may  be  likened  to  the  moral 
effect.  To  a  certain  extent  parents  and  teachers  can  ex- 
ercise a  selective  influence  here,  as  in  respect  to  manners, 
morals,  and  general  cultivation,  but  taking  the  multitude 
together  such  influence  is  not  very  great. 

The  third  observation  is  that  small — very  small — reli- 
ance should  be  placed  on  rules,  and  then  only  in  matters 
that  are  purely  mechanical.  "  Children  are  not  to  be 
taught  by  rules  which  shall  always  be  slipping  out  of 
their  memories,"  says  John  Locke.  "  What  you  think  it 
necessary  for  them  to  do,  settle  in  them  by  an  indispen- 
sable practice.  .  .  .  Nothing  sinks  so  quietly  and  deep  into 
men's  minds  as  examples." 

Even  at  the  cost  of  what  may  seem  unreasonable  re- 
iteration, attention  must  once  more  be  drawn  to  the  rela- 
tions of  thought  and  speech.  If  the  doctrine  heretofore 
advanced  be  true — that  thought  and  language  are  prac- 
tically inseparable ;  that  the  two  are  really  but  different 
aspects  of  the  one  subject;  that  growth  in  thought  and 
growth  in  language  should  be  promoted  in  the  school — 
then  the  conclusion  may  perhaps  be  drawn  that  instruc- 
tion along  either  line  will  answer  in  both  lines.  Not  so  ; 
thought  and  language  do  not  measure  each  other  abso- 
lutely; and  although  it  is  true  that  good  instruction  in 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN  THE   LOWER  GRADES.   53 

either  line  helps  in  the  other  one,  still  there  must  be 
separate  and  distinct  instruction  in  both  lines.  It  is  a 
question  of  emphasis  ;  now  thought  will  be  emphasized, 
and  then  language.  The  common  child  will  not  pick  up 
the  elementary  school  arts  by  the  way,  without  his  own 
knowledge,  but  he  must  consciously  learn  them.  He  will 
not  learn  to  read,  write,  and  compose  essays  with  power, 
ease,  and  correctness,  incidentally,  while  giving  exclusive 
attention  or  preponderant  attention  to  something  else. 
Thought-expression  must  be  emphasized  as  well  as  thought- 
material. 

From  birth  to  death  there  are  four  agents  that  pro- 
mote our  education  in  vernacular  language — that  develop 
our  powers  of  mind,  and  enlarge  and  clarify  our  means  of 
expression.  These  agents  are  here  enumerated  in  the 
order  of  their  value : — 

1.  Association,  or  social  relations  with  our  fellows,  in- 
cluding listening  to  cultivated  speech  of  a  formal  charac- 
ter, as  sermons,  orations,  and  the  like. 

2.  The  reading  of  good  literature,  both  in  and  out  of 
school. 

3.  Formal  instruction  in  the  language-arts,  speech, 
reading,  and  composition. 

4.  The  scientific  study  of  language,  and  particularly 
of  one's  vernacular,  or  grammar. 

The  first  of  these  agents  works  in  the  life  of  the  child 
from  its  birth,  ceaselessly  and  powerfully.  In  no  field  of 
human  activity  or  cultivation  does  imitation  play  a  greater 
part  than  here.  The  second  and  third  agents  do  not  ap- 
pear in  the  life  of  a  majority  of  children  until  they  go  to 
school ;  and  even  in  the  minority,  who  have  made  some 
progress  in  those  arts  before  that  time,  they  work  but 
feebly.     Here,  too,  imitation  asserts  itself  strongly.     The 

fourth  agent  never  becomes  a  practical  factor  in  the  edu- 
G 


54  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

cation  of  a  majority  of  children,  because  they  do  not  study 
grammar ;  while  in  the  cases  of  those  who  do  study  it,  it 
is  much  less  effective  than  the  other  three. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  much  comment  upon  the 
bad  training  in  English  of  the  youth  of  the  country,  and 
particularly  of  those  who  come  to  the  better  colleges. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  this  comment  has  much 
justification.  In  the  search  for  causes  of  the  existing 
state  of  things,  and  in  the  attempts  to  locate  the  blame, 
quite  insufficient  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  relatively 
low  stage  of  general  cultivation,  including  the  language- 
arts,  of  the  vast  constituency  of  the  schools.  This  state- 
ment includes  pupils  and  teachers,  because  it  includes  the 
whole  community.  The  schools  are  to  blame,  but  not 
wholly  so.  Training  in  language,  more  than  training  in 
anything  else,  bespeaks  the  child's  or  the  man's  personal 
cultivation;  and  the  roots  of  this  cultivation  are  not 
reached  directly  by  the  conscious  processes  of  the  school. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN   THE   HIGHER    GRADES   AND   IN 

THE   HIGH    SCHOOLS. 

There  can  be  no  greater  mistake  in  educational  theory 
than  to  suppose  that  the  child,  at  any  given  time,  passes 
by  a  leap  from  one  stage  of  mental  development  to  another, 
and  no  greater  mistake  in  educational  practice  than  sud- 
denly to  put  aside  one  set  of  agencies  for  another  set.  The 
child-life  is  a  continuous  evolution — enlarging  indeed  rap- 
idly at  times,  but  never  so  rapidly  as  to  snap  the  thread 
of  continuity.  Since  there  is  no  break  in  the  child-life  at 
the  age  of  eight  years,-there  should  be  no  break  in  the 
teacher's  regimen.  Changes  of  method  and  of  regimen 
should  come  as  gradually  as  the  changes  of  the  mind  itself. 
Sameness  in  kind,  however,  does  not  necessitate  sameness 
in  degree.  Progressively,  the  exercises  that  are  continued 
into  the  second  period  of  school  life  from  the  first  one 
should  be  made  more  thorough  and  more  difficult,  as  the 
child  is  able  to  bear  them.  Still  further,  the  total  amount 
of  stress  or  emphasis  may  be,  and  should  be,  reapportioned 
or  redistributed.  For  example,  as  the  pupil  ascends  the 
grades  less  stress  should  be  laid  upon  concrete  facts  and 
ideas,  and  more  upon  abstract  facts  and  ideas.  The  full 
training  of  a  mind  demands  that  abstract  subjects  should 
receive  due  attention  in  their  time  as  well  as  object  les- 
sons in  their  time. 

55 


56  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Accordingly,  the  means  to  be  employed  in  teaching 
the  language-arts  after  the  third  year  do  not  really  differ 
in  kind  from  those  employed  before  that  time,  save  in  one 
or  two  particulars.  In  the  first  years  of  the  new  period 
that  now  begins  all  the  agencies  before  mentioned  should 
still  be  continued.  Some  stress  must  be  withdrawn,  as 
the  work  goes  on,  from  the  oral  exercises,  and  be  put 
upon  the  reading  and  writing  exercises.  The  pupil  must 
slowly  learn  how  to  use  a  book— that  is,  really  to  read ; 
and  this  he  will  never  do  unless  he  uses  books.  Noth- 
ing is  more  destructive  of  good  habits  in  the  pupil  than 
the  continuous  flow  of  the  teacher's  talk,  no  matter  how 
good  the  talk  may  be.  As  the  grades  are  passed  the 
teacher  should  become  less  prominent  in  the  school  life, 
and  the  subjects  of  study,  and  notably  the  printed  page, 
become  more  prominent.  "  For  what  other  purpose  has 
teaching,"  asks  Quintilian,  "  than  that  a  pupil  may  at  last 
be  under  no  necessity  of  being  taught  ?  " 

I  shall  now  describe  in  order  the  exercises  to  be 
employed  in  this  more  advanced  stage  of  language- 
teaching. 

1.  The  copying  and  dictation  exercises  should  be  con- 
tinued as  a  rule.  Sentences  may  be  dismissed,  and  the 
stanza,  the  paragraph,  and  the  poem  used  instead.  It  will 
be  found  advantageous  in  time  to  cause  the  pupil  to 
transcribe  considerable  compositions.  The  benefits  of 
such  exercises  are  obvious.  Besides  being  lessons  in  spell- 
ing, in  penmanship,  and  in  expression,  they  enrich  the 
understanding,  enlarge  the  vocabulary,  and  lay  the  foun- 
dation of  style.  If  the  pupil  falls  into  the  spirit  of  the 
piece,  Imitation  will  at  once  begin  to  work  her  spell. 
Demosthenes,  it  is  said,  copied  Thucydides's  History  of 
the  Peloponnesian  War  six  times  with  his  own  hand. 
But  it  will  not  do  to  permit  such  exercises  to  degenerate 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN  THE   HIGHER  GRADES.    57 

into  mere  mechanical  routine ;  they  must  be  made  fully 
intelligent. 

2.  Composing  themes  or  essays.  The  most  marked 
difference  between  the  second  period  and  the  first  one  is 
the  expansion  of  the  constructive  work.  A  characteristic 
exercise  is  the  story,  theme,  or  essay,  which  at  first  should 
be  limited  to  the  single  paragraph.  To  bridge  the  chasm 
between  the  single  sentences  of  the  first  grades  and  the 
formal  compositions  of  later  grades,  is  the  hardest  thing 
to  be  done  in  teaching  composition.  Here  no  better 
method  can  be  employed  than  the  oue  anciently  described 
by  Quintilian.  He  first  recommends  that  those  pupils 
who  are  too  young  to  enter  upon  the  direct  study  of 
oratory  shall,  in  the  first  place,  "  relate  orally  the  fables 
of  ^Esop,  which  follow  next  after  the  nurse's  stories,  in 
plain  language,  not  rising  at  all  above  mediocrity,  and 
afterwards  to  express  the  same  simplicity  in  writing."  He 
then  recommends  paraphrasing.  As  to  the  poets,  let  the 
boys  take  to  pieces  their  verses,  and  then  express  them  in 
different  words ;  and  afterwards  represent  them,  "  some- 
what boldly,  in  a  paraphrase,  in  which  it  is  allowable  to 
abbreviate  or  embellish  certain  parts,  provided  that  the 
sense  of  the  poet  be  preserved."  He  recommends  also  the 
writing  of  sentences,  and  especially  of  what  he  calls  chrice, 
which  is  the  relation  of  some  saying  or  action,  and  not 
different  apparently  from  the  "  story "  method  so  com- 
monly found  in  our  schools.* 

It  would  be  very  unwise,  however,  to  call  the  simple 
exercises  done  at  the  beginning  of  these  grades  essays  or 
compositions.  Professor  Laurie  thinks  " essays  "  should  not 
appear  until  the  fourteenth  year.  Much  depends  upon  a 
name  or  a  definition.     The  fact  is,  if  the  language  work 


*  Institutes  of  Oratory,  i,  9,  S. 


58  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

is  properly  graded  you  can  not  tell  when  the  pupil  writes 
his  first  essay,  so  insensibly  will  language  lessons  shade 
into  essays. 

3.  Paraphrasing.  What  has  already  been  said  about 
oral  paraphrasing  is  equally  true  of  written.  Much  more 
is  also  to  be  said  of  both. 

Professor  Laurie  objects  to  paraphrasing,  which  he  calls 
"  turning  into  commonplace  language,  which  '  any  fellow 
may  understand,'  the  verses  of  a  poet,  or  the  succinct 
prose  of  such  writers  as  Bacon  and  Browne.  ...  A  more 
detestable  exercise,"  he  says,  "  I  do  not  know.  It  is  a  vile 
use  of  pen  and  ink.  .  .  .  To  paraphrase  Milton  or  Shake- 
speare," he  goes  on,  "  is  to  turn  the  good  into  the  inferior 
or  bad,  and  to  degrade  literature.  Moreover,  it  is  false. 
For  the  youth  who  has  done  it  imagines  that  his  sentences 
give  all  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  original  Milton  or  Bacon. 
If  this  were  so,  then  there  would,  alas  !  be  no  such  thing 
as  literature,  no  such  thi ug  as  art  in  language.  When  all 
is  done,  you  have  no  longer  got  Bacon  or  Milton,  but  only 
your  much  lesser  self."  *  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
Koger  Ascham  held  the  same  view.  "  It  is  a  bold  com- 
parison indeed,"  he  says  in  The  Scholemaster,  "  to  think 
to  say  better  than  that  is  best.  Such  turning  of  the  best 
into  worse  is  much  like  the  turning  of  good  wine  out  of  a  fair 
sweet  flagon  of  silver  into  a  foul,  musty  bottle  of  leather ; 
or  to  turn  pure  gold  and  silver  into  foul  brass  and  cop- 
per." Quintilian,  however,  recommended  paraphrasing, 
very  much  to  Ascham's  disgust.  To  much  paraphrasing 
the  objection  is  perfectly  valid.  The  object  of  the  exer- 
cise is  not,  as  Ascham  seems  to  suppose,  to  better  what  is 
best,  but  rather  to  improve  the  style  of  the  pupil.  Still, 
there  is  no  merit  in  simply  marring  what  is  beautiful.     A 

»- ■.!■»■  ,  ..  .,■—,.,,■  ■-■—    .  ■!..  I.-  —  ■  111.  — 

*  Pp.  50,  51. 


THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN  THE   HIGHER  GRADES.   59 

writer  in  the  Saturday  Review  deservedly  condemns  the 
making-over  of  such  lines  as  these  : 

"  To  mute  and  to  material  things 
New  life  revolving  summer  brings  ; 
The  gentle  call  dead  Nature  hears, 
And  in  her  glory  reappears." 

The  flowers  of  literature  are  too  delicate  and  fragile  to  be 
roughly  handled.  To  paraphrase,  for  instance,  Tenny- 
son's Brook  is  most  absurd  ;  the  poem  is  ethereal,  all  music, 
and  one  might  as  well  paraphrase  the  song  of  the  lark. 
But  if  narrative  verse  is  chosen,  verse  that  has  body  and 
substance,  paraphrasing  is  a  very  useful  exercise,  as  most 
teachers  will  testify.  Passages  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  poems, 
stories  as  they  are  and  full  of  fire  and  animation,  may  be 
recommended  as  good  material.  To  a  degree  the  contro- 
versy is  one  about  words.  Even  Laurie  recommends  what 
he  calls  "  resolution  "  or  "  dialysis,"  which  consists  in  the 
writing  out  of  a  piece  of  poetry  in  grammatical  prose 
order,  supplying  words  understood,  but  always  preserving 
the  language  of  the  poet 

4.  The  imitation  of  chosen  models.  The  recommenda- 
tion of  this  practice  does  not  mean  that  the  pupil  shall 
consciously  copy  an  author's  stylo.  Such  a  course  would 
destroy  individuality  and  end  in  helplessness.  The  model 
should  rather  work  in  the  pupil,  and  through  him,  as  it 
will  do  if  he  really  becomes  absorbed  in  the  model.  The 
beneficial  influence  of  great  writers  upon  style  is  indirect. 
The  stronger  an  author's  personality,  the  stronger  the 
hold  that  he  will  take  of  his  readers  and  the  greater  will 
be  his  influence.  Students  of  Bacon,  Milton,  or  Shake- 
speare are  influenced  not  so  much  directly  in  their  thought 
or  style  as  indirectly  through  what  they  absorb  uncon- 
sciously. At  first,  nothing  more  can  be  expected  than 
that  the  pupil  will  fall  into  the  author's  mode  of  express- 


60  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

ing  thought,  which  he  will  do  if  really  interested.  After- 
ward he  should  study  authors  critically.  Dr.  Johnson 
said  a  man  who  wished  to  write  well  should  give  his  days 
and  nights  to  Addison,  which  is  sound  advice,  provided 
Addison  is  thought  to  be  a  proper  model. 

It  is  especially  important  that  the  teaching  of  the  lan- 
guage-arts should  be  conducted  on  the  intensive  plan. 
There  is  a  reciprocal  relation  between  speaking  and  read- 
ing, while  language  or  composition  should  be  kept  in  close 
touch  with  the  reading  lessons,  and  particularly  with  the 
literature.  The  study  of  literature  will  furnish  subjects 
and  materials  as  well  as  models  of  expression.  Constant 
care  must  be  taken  to  develop  literary  taste,  and  this  can 
be  done  only  through  constant  contact  with  good  reading 
matter.  Rhetoric  and  criticism  may  purge  the  taste,  but 
alone  they  never  reform  it  any  more  than  they  form  it  in 
the  first  place. 

5.  Translation.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  exer- 
cise is  very  beneficial  to  those  students  who  carefully  study 
a  foreign  language.  It  involves  the  two  elements  of  un- 
conscious imitation  and  of  practice.  Translation  was 
the  great  reliance  of  Ascham  in  teaching  Latin.  He 
strongly  advises  what  he  called  "  double  translations  " — 
that  is,  first  rendering  a  letter  of  Cicero's,  for  example, 
into  English,  and  then  translating  it  again  into  Latin. 
These  are  his  words  : 

"  Translation  is  easy  in  the  beginning  for  the  scholar, 
and  bringeth  also  much  learning  and  great  judgment  to 
the  master.  It  is  most  common  and  most  commendable 
of  all  other  exercises  for  youth.  Most  common  for  all 
your  constructions  in  grammar  schools  be  nothing  else 
but  translations  ;  but  because  they  be  not  double  trans- 
lations, as  I  do  require,  they  bring  forth  but  simple  and 
single  commodity,  and  because  also  they  lack  the  daily 


THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS  IN  THE  HIGHER  GRADES.    61 

use  of  writing,  which  is  the  only  thing  that  breedeth  deep 
root,  both  in  the  wit,  for  good  understanding,  and  in  the 
memory,  for  sure  keeping  of  all  that  is  learned.  Most 
commendable  also,  and  that  by  the  judgment  of  all  au- 
thoES  which  entreat  of  these  exercises."  * 

Still,  it  is  a  mistake  to  teach  the  second  language  in 
school  in  the  early  grades.  It  leads  to  confusion  and 
weakness ;  what  is  gained  in  the  foreign  tongue  is  lost  in 
the  mother  tongue.  On  this  point  Professor  Laurie's  re- 
marks quoted  on  a  previous  page  may  be  again  cited.  Still, 
I  must  not  fail  to  remark  that  it  is  very  desirable  for  those 
children  who  are  expected  to  study  one  or  more  languages 
at  some  time  to  take  up  the  second  one  before  the  high 
school  is  reached. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  cover  in  general  the  whole 
field  of  language  work  up  to  the  high  school ;  indeed, 
properly  expanded,  they  include  the  high  school  also. 
Some  of  them  are  of  principal  or  exclusive  application 
in  lower  grades,  some  in  upper  grades.  To  consider  the 
grades,  one  by  one,  with  -reference  to  the  specific  kind  of 
work  that  should  be  done  in  each,  would  not  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  plan  of  this  work ;  nor  is  it  thought  to  be 
necessary,  especially  as  reading  and  composition  will  be 
made  the  subject  of  discussion  in  future  chapters. 

To  the  foregoing  methods  of  instruction  two  others 
should  be  added  that  will  find  their  main  application  and 
use  in  the  high  school. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  study  of  etymologies.  The 
derivation  of  words  is  not  always  a  safe  guide  to  their 
meaning.  Language  is  often  illogical.  This  is  particu- 
larly true  of  the  technical  terms  of  science.  " '  Hydro- 
gen '  and  '  oxygen,'  '  meiocene '  and  '  pleiocene,'  "  says  Mr. 

*  Book  II,  Translation. 


62  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Marsh,  "are  modern  compounds  of  Greek  roots,  but,  how- 
ever familiar  their  radicals,  these  terms  would  no  more 
explain  themselves  to  the  intelligence  of  a  Greek  than  to 
an  unlettered  Englishman."  The  meanings  of  such  words 
must  be  sought  in  dictionaries  and  works  of  science.  "vWe 
can  not  learn  all  words,"  Mr.  Marsh  proceeds, "  through 
other  words.  There  is  a  large  and  rapidly  increasing  part 
of  all  modern  vocabularies,  which  can  be  comprehended 
only  by  the  observation  of  Nature,  scientific  experiment, 
in  short  by  the  study  of  things. "  * 

We  can,  however,  learn  many  words  through  other 
words.  Often  a  clear  idea  of  a  common  radical  will  illu- 
minate a  whole  family  of  words.  The  student  who  sees 
that  Latin  jwendere  means  to  seize  or  grasp  gets  a  firmer 
hold  of  "  comprehend  "  and  of  "  apprehend,"  and  of  the  two 
large  families  of  words  of  which  these  are  members.  A 
limited  number  of  nouns  and  verbs,  combined  with  a  few 
prepositions,  have  given  us  a  large  part  of  our  working 
vocabulary.  "  Example,"  "  exemplification,"  "  ensample," 
"sample,"  and  the  like,  all  go  back  to  exemplum,  and  this 
again  to  the  verb  eximere.  "  Instruction,"  "  construction," 
"destruction,"  differ  only  in  the  three  different  prepo- 
sitions that  form  the  first  syllables.  We  seem  to  have  a 
clearer  view  of  the  helplessness  of  the  baby  when  we  think 
of  him  as  the  "  infant,"  the  not-speaking  one.  A  "  fable  " 
should  be  anything  that  is  told,  and  a  "  legend  "  anything 
that  is  read,  rather  than  what  they  are  at  present.  The 
Roman  virtus  was  courage,  and  the  use  of  the  word  in  its 
present  sense  suggests  the  high  valuation  that  has  been 
attached  to  that  virtue.  An  aristocracy  should  be  a  gov- 
ernment of  the  best.  "  Sincerity  "  and  "  cerement "  are 
alike  in  this,  that  the  root  of  each  is  cera,  meaning  wax. 

*  Lectures  on  the  English  Language,  p.  84. 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN   THE   HIGHER  GRADES.    63 

"  Trivialities "  are  the  unconsidered  matters  that  men 
are  apt  to  exchange  at  the  crossings  of  the  way  or  road. 
These  examples  are  all  drawn  from  the  Latin  side  of  the 
English  speech.  The  composition  of  Saxon  words  is  often 
equally  interesting.  Consider  the  families  of  words  de- 
rived from  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  body,  hand, 
foot,  head,  and  mouth.  Not  everybody  has  thought  that 
"  nosegay  "  is  a  compound  of  the  two  familiar  words  that 
compose  it.  Whether  much  time  is  given  to  the  roots  or 
not,  prefixes  and  suffixes  should  be  a  subject  of  study  in 
all  schools  above  the  lower  grades. 

Word-building  often  adds  new  force  to  the  meaning 
of  words.  It  gives  new  clearness  to  the  pupil's  ideas ;  it 
increases  his  resources  of  expression ;  and,  not  least,  it 
creates  a  habit  of  observation  and  analysis  that  adds  ma- 
terially to  the  interest  and  value  of  language.  While  it 
is  most  beneficial  to  students  who  have  studied  a  second 
language,  and  particularly  Latin,  its  benefits  are  not  con- 
fined to  them.  It  is  therefore  highly  important  that  all 
teachers  of  language  should  turn  the  attention  of  their 
pupils  to  the  study  of  etymology. 

The  other  line  of  study  referred  to  is  the  history  of 
words,  or  not  so  much  the  history  of  words  as  the  history 
that  is  in  words.  "Words,"  Emerson  says,  "are  fossil 
poetry."  They  are  fossil  history  as  well.  They  register 
opinions,  states  of  society,  political  facts,  the  progress  of 
ideas.  The  word  "  pagan  "  informs  us  that  in  the  Roman 
Empire  the  villagers,  pagani,  clung  to  the  old  religion 
when  the  dwellers  in  cities  had  accepted  Christianity. 
The  word  "  heathen "  points  to  a  similar  relation  be- 
tween the  heathmen  and  the  townsmen  in  Saxon  Eng- 
land. "  Rustic  "  and  "  urban  "  mark  the  contrast  between 
country  and  town  in  manners.  Politics,  as  the  word 
shows,  originated  in  the  city  (n6?ag).     "  Jewsharp  "  and 


64  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

"  tenpenny  "  nail  have  each  a  history.  With  what  eager 
interest  the  reader  having  a  smattering  of  philology,  reads 
the  conversation  between  Wamba  and  Gurth  in  Ivanhoe 
that  brings  out  the  historical  significance  of  swine  and 
pork,  ox  and  beef,  calf  and  veal,  sheep  and  mutton!  The 
first  word  of  each  pair  is  Saxon,  the  second  Norman,  show- 
ing, as  Wamba  says,  that  the  animal  is  Saxon  when  he 
requires  tendance,  and  takes  a  Norman  name  when  he 
becomes  a  matter  of  enjoyment.  Scott  uses  these  ety- 
mologies to  illustrate  how  little  the  Normans  had  left  to 
the  Saxons  ;  while  the  finest  and  the  fattest  were  for  the 
Norman  board,  the  loveliest  for  the  Norman  couch,  the 
best  and  bravest  for  the  Norman  host.  The  history  of 
Europe  is  largely  written  in  its  languages,  and  the  geo- 
graphical nomenclature  of  America  tells  of  races  and  tribes 
that  have  passed  or  are  passing  away.  "  Mountains  and 
streams,"  it  has  been  said,  "  still  murmur  the  voices  of 
nations  long  since  denationalized  or  extirpated." 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  science  of  language  has 
come  to  be  an  important  source  of  historical  information, 
but  its  effect  on  the  course  of  history  itself  has  not  been 
as  fully  recognised.  "  The  new  theory  of  language,"  says 
Sir  H.  S.  Maine,  "has  unquestionably  produced  a  new 
theory  of  race.  ...  To  this  theory  of  race,"  he  adds,  "  we 
owe,  at  all  events  in  part,  the  vast  development  of  German 
nationality ;  and  we  certainly  owe  to  it  the  pretensions  of 
the  Russian  Empire  to  at  least  a  presidency  over  all  Sla- 
vonic communities."  Panslavism  has  been  called  "philo- 
logical sentiment."  The  learned  writer  might,  with  equal 
propriety,  have  mentioned  the  part  that  the  new  race  the- 
ory played  in  the  unification  of  Italy. 

The  interest  and  value  of  such  studies  as  these  are 
found  mainly  in  discipline  and  in  culture.  And  yet, 
whatever  makes  language  more  significant,  more  vivid, 


THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN  TIIE  HIGHER  GRADES.    65 

more  picturesque,  enhances  its  value  as  an  instrument  of 
thought.  Study  of  the  etymology  and  history  of  words 
in  schools  should  be  encouraged.  Such  study  may  be 
entered  upon  in  a  tentative  manner  before  the  high 
school  is  reached.  Sneer  as  scientific  philologists  may 
at  Trench's  Study  of  Words,  that  book  has  quickened  the 
linguistic  interest  of  many  minds;  and  were  it  brought  up 
to  the  front  of  the  latest  scholarship,  retaining  its  popular 
character,  it  would  still  be  a  good  book  to  put  on  the  table 
of  every  teacher  of  English  in  the  country. 

A  further  word  may  well  be  said  about  one  of  the 
topics  treated  above.  The  translation  that  helps  the  pu- 
pil in  his  English  is  the  actual  transference  of  thought 
from  good  Latin  or  German  into  good  English.  The  mere 
matching  of  words  is  of  little  value.  Idiomatic  English 
is  what  is  wanted.  Moreover,  translation  is  accompanied 
by  a  double  difficulty :  the  pupil  is  called  upon  to  grasp 
the  thought  of  the  writer  contained  in  a  foreign  language, 
and  then  to  express  this  thought  in  his  own  language. 
In  many  cases  either  one  ol  these  efforts  taxes  his  abilitv 
severely,  and  frequently  overtaxes  it.  The  more  remote 
the  passage  from  his  own  habitual  mental  life,  the  sorer 
the  trial.  The  vehicle  is  new  and  the  burden  that  it 
carries  heavy.  A  frequent  result  is  that  translations  are 
accepted  which,  in  respect  to  English,  would  not  for  a 
moment  be  tolerated  as  original  compositions.  Accord- 
ingly, this  is  a  point  to  be  watched,  lest  the  Latin  or 
German  lesson  undoes  the  English  lesson. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   ART   OF   READING. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  first  mental  cultivation  of  the 
race  originated  in  its  contact  with  the  external  world,  ma- 
terial and  social ;  the  second,  in  its  contact  with  the  ex- 
perience of  the  living  or  the  dead  communicated  by  oral 
tradition.  The  third  came  with  the  invention  of  writing 
and  the  production  of  books.  These  steps  every  individ- 
ual repeats  in  the  same  order. 

"  With  the  art  of  writing,"  says  Carlyle,  "  of  which 
printing  is  a  simple,  an  inevitable,  and  comparatively  in- 
significant corollary,  the  true  reign  of  miracles  for  man- 
kind commenced.  ...  All  things  were  altered  for  men  : 
all  modes  of  important  work  of  men— teaching,  preaching, 
governing,  and  all  else."  He  contrasts  the  university  of 
the  thirteenth  century  with  the  university  of  the  nine- 
teenth—the one  a  place  of  listening,  the  other  of  reading. 
"  If  we  think  of  it,"  he  continues,  "  all  that  a  university 
or  final  highest  school  can  do  for  us  is  still  but  what  the 
first  school  began  doing— teach  us  to  read:'  And  again, 
"The  true  university  of  these  days  is  a  collection  of 
books."  *  It  is  true  that  Carlyle  wrote  this  celebrated  pas- 
sage before  the  day  of  laboratory  methods ;  but  if  he  were 
living  now,  it  is  not  probable  that  he  would  care  to  change 
a  word  of  it.    There  is,  indeed,  a  long-standing  controversy 

*  The  Hero  as  Man  of  Letters. 
66 


THE   ART  OF   READING.  G7 

about  things  and  words  as  instruments  of  education — 
realism  and  verbalism.  Some  children  take  the  third 
step  in  education  before  coming  to  school ;  all  pay,  or 
should  pay,  much  attention  to  things  after  reaching  it ; 
still  the  book  gives  to  the  school,  and  particularly  to  the 
elementary  school,  its  character,  and  reading  is,  and  will 
continue  to  be,  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  elementary 
school  arts.  The  ancient  Jews  significantly  called  the 
school  "  the  house  of  the  book."  We  are  now  to  see 
what  its  use  involves. 

The  relation  of  the  author  to  his  composition  is  that  of 
a  creator  to  his  creature,  or  of  a  father  to  his  child.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Greek  conception,  the  poet  is  the  " maker" 
(7ro^T?jc),  and  such  also,  in  a  less  eminent  degree  perhaps, 
is  the  prose  writer.*  Some  part  of  an  author's  knowledge, 
thought,  feeling,  or  purpose — one  or  all  of  these ;  that  is, 
some  part  of  the  author  himself — flows  into  his  work. 
This  is  the  sense  of  the  word  "author."  Mr.  Lowell 
once  said  that  the  Greek  classics  are  rammed  with  life, 
and  so  in  some  degree  is  all  literature  worthy  of  the  name. 
The  author  is  like  Jesus  in  the  miracle — virtue  goes  out  of 
him.  But  the  life  or  virtue  is  inert  and  powerless  so  long 
as  the  book  lies  unused  on  the  shelf.  As  Dr.  Holmes  calls 
him,  the  librarian  is  the  sexton  of  the  alcoved  tomb — 
"  Where  souls  in  leathern  cerements  lie." 

The  function  of  the  reader  is  different  from  that  of 
the  author,  and  is  yet  like  it.  He  takes  up  a  dead  com- 
position and  makes  it  live  again.  He  recreates,  if  he  does 
not  create.  He  evokes  from  the  printed  page  what  the 
writer  put  into  it.  He  restores  the  writer,  so  far  as  he 
put  himself  into  his  work.     He  reanimates  the  souls  that 

*  In  Elizabethan  English  "maker"  is  the  current  term  for  poet, 
and  "  make  "  for  writing  verses. 


G8  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

lie  in  leathern  cerements.  When  he  brings  out  of  a  com- 
position bearing  one  of  those  names  all  the  Shakespeare, 
Bacon,  or  Tennyson  that  it  holds,  he  reads  it,  and  not 
until  then.  Mark  Pattison  says  the  scholar  is  greater 
than  his  books.  The  result  of  his  labours  is  not  so  many 
thousand  pages  of  folio,  but  himself.  The  Paradise  Lost 
is  a  grand  poem,  but  how  much  grander  was  the  living 
soul  who  spoke  it !  Philosophy  is  not  a  doctrine,  but  a 
method.  Philosophical  systems  as  put  upon  paper  do  not 
embody  philosophy.  Philosophy  perishes  in  the  moment 
you  would  teach  it.  Knowledge  is  not  the  thing  known, 
but  the  mental  effort  which  knows.  And  so  it  is  with 
learning.*  But  there  is  another  point  of  view.  Imper- 
fect as  they  are,  books  are  the  best  expression  of  the 
minds  that  have  produced  them.  If  Milton  falls  below 
his  own  level  in  Paradise  Lost,  he  rises  again  in  the  Mil- 
tonic  reader.  And  while  philosophy  may  perish  in  the 
act  of  teaching,  and  knowledge  cease  to  be  in  the  act  of 
transmission,  they  reappear  in  the  disciple  as  the  power 
that  philosophizes  and  the  activity  that  knows.  Reading, 
to  be  sure,  is  relative,  not  absolute.  A  child's  reading  of 
Shakespeare  is  one  thing,  Coleridge's  quite  another. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  seen  that  knowledge  is 
purely  subjective  ;  that  if  all  minds  were  to  perish,  knowl- 
edge would  cease  to  exist,  even  if  all  the  existing  symbols 
of  knowledge,  books  and  libraries  included,  should  sur- 
vive. These  books  and  libraries  would  be  like  the  old 
parrot  mentioned  by  Humboldt,  which  spoke  the  language 
of  a  savage  tribe  that  had  ceased  to  exist.  It  is  only  in  a 
secondary  sense  that  there  is  knowledge  in  a  book.  What 
a  book  contains  is  not  properly  ideas,  not  properly  even 
words,  which  are  the  signs  of  ideas,  but  merely  the  symbols 


*  Isaac  Casaubon,  pp.  488,  489. 


TIIE   ART   OF   READING.  69 

of  words,  the  external  and  visible  simulacra  of  thought ; 
and  it  is  only  when  a  mind  like  the  mind  of  the  author  is 
brought  into  relation  with  it  that  the  book  becomes  in- 
stinct with  meaning.  A  book  may  be  likened  to  a  phono- 
graph, which  speaks  or  sings  only  to  an  ear  like  the  ear 
of  him  who  first  spoke  the  speech  or  sung  the  song. 

In  his  essay  on  Goethe's  Helena,  Carlyle  shows  how 
the  reader  becomes  one  with  the  author.  "  We  have  not 
read  an  author  till  we  have  seen  his  object,  whatever  it 
may  be,  as  he  saw  it.  Is  it  a  matter  of  reasoning,  and  has 
he  reasoned  stupidly  and  falsely  ?  We  should  understand 
the  circumstances  which,  to  his  mind,  made  it  seem  true, 
or  persuaded  him  to  write  it,  knowing  that  it  was  not  so. 
In  any  other  way  we  do  him  injustice  if  we  judge  him. 
Is  it  of  poetry  ?  His  words  are  so  many  symbols,  to  which 
we  ourselves  must  furnisli  the  interpretation  ;  or  they  re- 
main, as  in  all  prosaic  minds  the  words  of  poetry  ever  do, 
a  dead  letter :  indications  they  are,  barren  in  themselves, 
but  by  following  which  we  also  may  reach,  or  approach,  that 
Hill  of  Vision  where  the  poet  stood,  beholding  the  glorious 
scene  which  it  is  the  purport  of  his  poem  to  show  others." 

Writing  and  reading  are  correlative  arts  ;  either  im- 
plies the  other.  When  one  stops  to  think  of  it,  he  begins 
to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  the  triumph  that  they  involve. 
With  a  few  strokes  of  his  pen,  the  author  transmits  his 
thought  around  the  world,  or  to  a  distant  age.  Through 
the  printed  page,  the  reader  comes  into  relation  with  the 
men  who  have  rammed  the  literatures  with  life.  "  It  is 
the  greatest  invention  that  man  has  ever  made,"  says  Car- 
lyle, "  this  of  marking  down  the  thought  that  is  in  him 
by  written  characters.  It  is  a  kind  of  second  speech, 
almost  as  marvellous  as  the  first."  It  is  not  strange  that 
a  people  so  full  of  filial  piety  as  the  Chinese  should  rever- 
ence lettered  paper. 
7 


70  TEACHING   TIIE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

While  reading  is  the  latest  born  of  the  great  instru- 
ments of  cultivation,  it  is  in  some  ways  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all.  Bjornson  makes  the  mother  of  the  hero  of 
The  Happy  Boy  say  to  her  son  that  once  the  moun- 
tain spoke  to  the  stream,  the  stream  to  the  river,  the 
river  to  the  sea,  and  the  sea  to  the  sky,  the  sky  to 
the  clouds,  the  clouds  to  the  trees,  the  trees  to  the  grass, 
the  grass  to  the  flies,  the  flies  to  the  animals,  the  animals 
to  the  children,  the  children  to  the  grown-up  people,  and 
so  on.  Finally,  she  begins  to  teach  him  to  read.  He  had 
owned  books  for  a  long  time,  and  often  wondered  how  it 
would  seem  when  they  also  began  to  talk.  Mr.  Scudder 
uses  the  story  to  emphasize  what  he  calls  "  the  crisis  of 
our  educational  system."  This  crisis  is  learning  to  read. 
"  In  making  it  possible  for  him  [the  child]  to  read  books, 
we  have  added  enormously  to  the  power  of  the  teacher.  .  . 
Of  all  times  in  the  child's  life  when  this  company  of  in- 
visible spirits  may  be  called  in  as  interpreters,  there  is 
none  more  significant,  more  impressive  than  this,  when, 
standing  on  the  threshold,  wondering,  listening,  his  im- 
agination sensitive  to  the  finer  influences,  he  waits  to  hear 
what  his  books  shall  say  to  him  when  they  begin  to 
talk."* 

*  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1894,  p.  254 :  The  Educational 
Law  of  Reading  and  Writing. 


CHAPTER  X. 

READING   AND   MENTAL   CULTIVATION. 

School  studies  proper  may  be  divided  into  three 
groups,  the  divisions  being  based  on  use  or  function.  We 
must  sketch  out  these  groups,  and  also  show  the  relation 
of  reading  to  each  one  of  them. 

1.  The  guidance  studies  furnish  us  with  information 
or  knowledge  that  is  of  immediate  practical  value  in  the 
work  of  life.  This  knowledge  shapes,  or  at  least  influ- 
ences, our  conduct.  The  terms  "  guidance  "  and  "  con- 
duct," however,  must  not  be  taken  in  a  narrow  sense. 
They  must  not  be  used  in  a  merely  moral  acceptation, 
but  in  the  sense  of  universal  activity.  In  kind  the 
knowledge  that  is  derived  from  these  studies  is  the  same 
as  the  useful  or  practical  information  that  is  gathered  by 
personal  observation  and  reflection,  by  conversation,  by 
reading  the  newspapers  and  books  of  general  information. 
It  has  an  encyclopredic  character,  and  has  been  called 
"  fact  lore."  Indeed,  information  has  sometimes  been 
regarded,  but  very  mistakenly,  as  the  same  thing  as  edu- 
cation. 

Extended  remarks  are  not  needed  to  show  that  the 
art  of  reading  is  very  closely  connected  with  this  group 
of  studies.  It  is  well  known  to  all  teachers  that  in  deal- 
ing with  this  whole  group  the  good  readers  greatly  sur- 
pass the  poor  ones.  Teachers  have  often  remarked  to 
me,  "  My  pupils  are  poor  in  geography  and  history  be- 

71 


72  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

cause  they  can  not  read."  It  is  the  same  way  in  physi- 
ology and  elementary  science,  for  in  these  studies  the  end 
sought  is  not  so  much  mental  discipline  as  it  is  informa- 
tion and  the  cultivation  of  the  observing  habit.  In  these 
studies  the  good  readers  surpass  the  poor  ones,  partly 
because  they  commonly  surpass  them  in  observation  and 
apprehension,  and  partly  because  they  surpass  them  in 
the  art  of  reading  itself.  The  mental  qualities  that  cause 
a  pupil  to  excel  as  a  reader  also  cause  him  to  excel  in  the 
information  studies.  As  Bacon  says,  conference  makes  a 
ready  man,  writing  an  exact  man,  reading  a  full  man. 

2.  The  disciplinary  studies  stimulate  the  observing 
and  thinking  faculties  to  action,  and  so  develop  the  mind. 
They  are  sometimes  called  the  "training  studies."  They 
tend  to  create  thought  rather  than  merely  to  furnish  facts 
or  ideas.  As  the  studies  of  the  first  group  give  the  mind 
knowledge,  so  these  give  it  power.  While  the  relation  of 
reading  to  the  disciplinary  studies  is  less  close  than  to  the 
information  studies,  it  is  still  important. 

Poor  readers  sometimes  do  good  work  in  physics, 
chemistry,  and  mathematics,  while  good  readers  more  fre- 
quently do  poor  work  in  the  same  studies ;  but  in  both 
instances  the  rule  is  the  other  way.  Pupils  often  come 
short  in  arithmetic  or  algebra  because  they  have  never 
formed  the  habit  of  carefully  reading  their  examples, 
problems,  and  theorems.  With  such  pupils  it  is  some- 
times an  advantage  to  cause  them  to  analyze  grammat- 
ically their  lessons.  The  close  relations  of  reading  to  the 
study  of  language,  particularly  on  the  literary  side,  are 
perfectly  obvious.  The  mental  qualities  that  make  the 
good  reader  tend  also  to  make  the  good  translator.  Poor 
readers  rarely  make  good  progress  in  the  study  of  languages. 
Grammar  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  future  chapter, 
but  a  single  phase  of  it  may  be  mentioned  here.    Grammat- 


READING  AND   MENTAL  CULTIVATION.  73 

ical  analysis  rests  on  logical  analysis,  on  actually  thinking 
an  author's  thoughts,  and  what  is  this  but  a  form  of  read- 
ing ?  Silent  reading  is  interpreting  to  the  mind  the  lan- 
guage-elements as  they  stand  on  the  page, — words,  phrases, 
clauses,  and  sentences  ;  oral  reading  adds  to  this  the  vocal 
expression  that  enables  the  listener  to  repeat  the  same 
process.  The  basic  element  in  both  cases  is  a  ceaseless  pro- 
cess of  defining,  interpreting,  and  construing.  The  simi- 
larity between  oral  reading  and  analysis  is  even  closer  : 
the  reader  indicates  the  subject  and  the  predicate  of  the 
sentence,  as  well  as  their  modifiers,  by  the  intonations, 
emphasis,  and  slides  of  his  voice;  the  grammarian  for- 
mally points  out  these  elements  by  giving  them  their 
grammatical  names.  Reading  is  rapid  analysis  without 
the  formal  designation  of  the  elements ;  analysis  is  slow 
reading  with  such  designation.  Still,  all  good  readers  do 
not  excel  in  formal  grammar  ;  some  who  have  the  literary 
faculty  lack  the  logical  power  that  analysis  calls  for. 

3.  The  culture  studies  supply  tilth  to  the  mind.  The 
principal  ones  are  the  arts.  Language  as  art  is  literature, 
a  culture  study.  The  difference  between  reading  and  the 
study  of  literature  is  partly  one  of  kind,  but  mainly  one 
of  degree.  The  teacher  of  reading  in  the  lower  grades 
places  more  emphasis  upon  the  mechanical  or  technical 
elements  of  the  art  than  upon  its  spiritual  elements ;  in 
the  higher  grades,  less  emphasis  upon  the  mechanical 
and  more  upon  the  spiritual ;  while  the  teacher  of  litera- 
ture gives  principal  attention  to  the  spiritual  elements. 
Manifestly  these  are  steps  in  the  same  line  of  development. 
Progressively,  the  art  of  reading  passes  into  the  study  of 
literature.  A  school  reader  is  a  book  of  literature,  as  well 
as  a  practice  book  for  teaching  an  art.  A  reader  of  high 
grade  contains,  or  should  contain,  a  variety  of  matter — 
descriptions  of  natural  objects,  elevated  oratory,  sublime, 


74  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

tragical,  and  comic  pieces,  wise  reasoning,  humour,  wit, 
pathos,  poetic  interpretation  of  Nature  and  scientific  in- 
terpretation, history,  food  for  the  intellect  and  food  for 
the  heart,  as  well  as  tonic  for  the  will.  Fully  to  appre- 
ciate such  a  book  calls  for  larger  mental  attainments  than 
all  the  other  books  of  the  elementary  school  put  together; 
to  render  its  lessons  well  is  the  highest  test  of  school  cul- 
ture ;  thoroughly  to  know  its  contents,  next  to  association 
with  a  good  teacher  and  cultivated  pupils,  is  contact  with 
the  best  formative  influence  of  the  school.  The  reader  is 
pre-eminently  the  character-making  and  the  taste-making 
book.    It  is  the  queen  book  of  the  elementary  schoolroom. 

Of  course,  this  division  of  studies,  or  any  other  one 
that  can  be  propounded,  lies  open  to  criticism.  The 
broadest  of  these  criticisms  is  that  the  groups  overlap  one 
another.  Information,  disciplinary,  and  culture  elements 
are  found  in  every  one  of  the  three  groups  of  studies — 
nay,  in  every  study.  As  in  other  cases  of  classification, 
the  names  go  with  the  emphatic  characters.  The  dis- 
tinction of  information  and  disciplinary  studies  in  par- 
ticular needs  to  be  guarded.  A  man's  knowledge  and  his 
discipline  are  not  convertible  terms,  still  less  his  knowl- 
edge and  his  education ;  at  the  same  time  there  is  no 
knowledge  that  does  not  bring  discipline,  and  no  disci- 
pline apart  from  knowledge. 

While  the  above  classification  exhausts  the  school 
studies,  it  does  not  exhaust  the  sources  of  mental  growth 
and  culture.  The  mind  is  enriched  from  sources  that  do 
not  bear  the  name  of  studies.  Literature  is  one,  conversa- 
tion another.  In  respect  to  language,  in  particular,  liter- 
ature is  very  powerful.  Imitation  begins  to  exercise  its 
potent  spell  the  moment  that  the  child  begins  to  read  a 
book  with  real  interest.  But  imitation  by  no  means  ex- 
hausts the  influence  of  either  literature  or  association. 


READING  AND  MENTAL  CULTIVATION.  75 

Imitation  is  at  best  a  sort  of  copying,  like  the  printing  of 
a  photograph ;  but  here  we  deal  with  a  force  that  works 
from  within  and  affects  the  whole  mental  being.  A  con- 
versation or  a  book,  entering  into  a  child's  mind,  brings 
new  knowledge,  incites  thought  and  feeling,  and  enlarges 
the  vocabulary  and  refines  modes  of  speech.  The  intro- 
duction of  new  ideas,  images,  and  feelings  engenders  new 
thought  power  and  imparts  new  forms  of  expression. 
Speech  grows  and  is  clarified  along  with  thought.  The 
new  spirit  pushes  off  old  modes  and  forms,  as  the  spring 
sap  causes  the  dead  leaves  to  fall  from  the  tree.  The  pro- 
cess is  none  the  less  efficacious  because  it  is  silent  and 
somewhat  slow.  Use  and  wont  do  indeed  create  habits  of 
speech  that  are  almost  incapable  of  change ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  reading  and  conversation  renew  a  person's 
speech  as  waste  and  repair  renew  his  skin.  And  it  was 
this  process  of  renewal  that  I  referred  to  when,  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  I  spoke  of  growing  off  or  sloughing  one's 
linguistic  integument. 

It  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate  the  linguistic  influence  of 
the  books  that  have  obtained  a  currency  as  wide  as  the 
language  in  which  they  are  written,  such  as  Milton,  Bun- 
yan,  Shakespeare,  and,  above  all,  King  James's  Bible.  The 
influence  of  a  few  great  models  such  as  these,  thoroughly 
read,  is  a  hundredfold  greater  than  that  of  all  the  gram- 
mars, dictionaries,  rhetorics,  and  language  books  ever  writ- 
ten. Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  potent  in- 
fluence of  the  school  reader.  It  may  be  more  than  doubt- 
ful whether,  with  our  habit  of  wide  and  careless  reading, 
we  are  not  at  a  disadvantage  in  respect  to  speech  com- 
pared with  our  ancestors,  who  read  more  narrowly  but 
more  intensely.  The  newspaper  is  by  no  means  an  un- 
mixed blessing,  while  there  is  reason  to  question  whether 
the  higher  school  readers  of  to-day  are  equal  in  a  literary 


76  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

point  of  view  to  those  that  were  formerly  in  use.  "  We 
are  apt,"  says  Lowell,  "  to  wonder  at  the  scholarship  of 
the  men  of  three  centuries  ago,  and  at  a  certain  dignity 
of  phrase  that  characterizes  them.  They  were  scholars 
because  they  did  not  read  so  many  things  as  we.  They 
had  fewer  books,  but  these  were  of  the  best.  Their  speech 
was  noble  because  they  lunched  with  Plutarch  and  supped 
with  Plato."  * 

The  primary  teacher's  first  duty  is  to  enlarge  and  clarify 
the  child's  mental  store,  rendering  his  facts,  ideas,  and 
thoughts  more  precise  and  definite,  as  well  as  more  full 
and  varied ;  her  second  duty— and  this  begins  at  the  same 
time  and  runs  parallel  with  the  former  one — is  to  enlarge 
and  clarify  his  vocabulary,  adding  to  his  stock  of  words 
and  sharpening  and  guiding  the  senses  in  which  he  uses 
them.  First  and  last  the  teacher's  great  instrument  in 
the  accomplishment  of  these  ends  is  reading.  The  intel- 
ligent teacher  will  therefore  hasten  to  lay  hold  of  this 
great  instrument  of  power.  She  will  hasten  to  teach  the 
pupil  the  art  of  reading ;  she  will  strive  to  create  within 
him  a  love  of  reading,  and  also  to  form  a  discriminating 
taste  or  judgment  that  is  capable  of  separating  what  is 
worth  reading  from  what  is  not.  The  public  schools  of 
the  United  States  cost  the  people  not  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  million  dollars  annually,  but  they  would 
earn  the  money  if  they  measurably  accomplished  the  three 
ends  just  stated,  although  they  should  do  nothing  more, 
viz.,  teach  the  children  how  to  read  and  what  to  read,  and 
give  them  a  love  of  reading.  Unfortunately,  the  difference 
between  literature  and  printed  matter  is  not  always  un- 
derstood. I  should  remark,  however,  that  the  relation  of 
the  reading  habit  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  life  is  not 

*  Literary  and  Political  Addresses :  Books  and  Libraries. 


READING  AND   MENTAL  CULTIVATION.  77 

here  emphasized  so  much  as  its  relation  to  linguistic  culti- 
vation. As  a  linguistic  agent  it  ranks  far  above  both  the 
study  of  grammar  and  the  technical  devices  of  the  school- 
room ;  it  stands  next  to  association  itself — is,  indeed,  a 
form  of  association  ;  and  is  undoubtedly  the  most  powerful 
linguistic  agent  that  the  teacher  can  use.  It  is  too  much 
to  expect  that  the  common  person,  habituated  from  birth 
to  bad  English,  will  ever  learn  to  use  the  best  English, 
but  the  ardent  reader  may  accomplish  wonders  in  that 
direction. 

What  has  been  said  of  environment  and  good  reading 
is  of  universal  application.  They  are  the  two  great  meth- 
ods of  teaching  language.  Neither  one  is  peculiar  to  the 
schoolroom.  No  matter  what  a  child's  primal  force  may 
be,  or  what  his  acquired  or  inherited  culture,  he  needs  the 
discipline  and  the  cultivation  that  come  from  good  com- 
pany and  good  books.  But  the  books  must  be  graduated 
to  the  pupil  and  must  be  wisely  handled. 

It  is  pertinent  to  observe  that  in  England,  at  least  at 
the  universities,  the  words  "  read  "  and  "  reading "  are 
used  in  a  much  broader  sense  than  in  the  United  States. 
To  study  is  to  read.  The  hard  student  is  the  hard  reader. 
A  difficult  subject  is  hard  reading.  This  broader  usage 
marks  the  essential  oneness  of  what  we  tend  to  divide. 
We  do,  indeed,  say  that  a  student  reads  law  or  theology, 
but  this  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  under  the  old 
regime  lawyers  obtained  their  education  in  lawyers'  offices, 
and  ministers  their  theological  training  in  pastors'  studies. 
The  introduction  of  the  broader  English  usage  into  our 
schools  might  prove  to  be  an  advantage. 

Note. — In  an  admirable  paragraph  Mr.  Lowell  considers  the  ques- 
tion, "What  the  mere  ability  to  read  means."  It  is  "the  key 
which  admits  ns  to  the  whole  world  of  thought  and  fancy  and  im- 
agination," "  to  the  company  of  saint  and  sage,  of  the  wisest  and 


78  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

wittiest  at  their  wisest  and  wittiest  moment " ;  "  it  enables  us  to  see 
with  the  keenest  eyes,  hear  with  the  finest  ears,  and  listen  to  the 
sweetest  voices  of  all  time  " ;  "  it  annihilates  time  and  space  for  us," 
and  revives  the  age  of  wonder  without  a  miracle.  "  We  often  hear 
of  people,"  he  says,  "  who  will  descend  to  any  servility,  submit  to 
any  insult,  for  the  sake  of  getting  themselves  or  their  children  into 
what  is  euphemistically  called  good  society.  Did  it  ever  occur  to 
them  that  there  is  a  select  society  of  all  the  centuries  to  which  they 
and  theirs  can  be  admitted  for  the  asking — a  society,  too,  which  will 
not  involve  them  in  ruinous  waste  of  time  and  health  and  facul- 
ties ?  " — (Books  and  Libraries.) 

Prof.  Norton  is  equally  happy  when  he  says  :  "  Poetry  is  one  of 
the  most  efficient  means  of  education  of  the  moral  sentiment,  as 
well  as  of  the  intelligence.  It  is  the  source  of  the  best  culture.  A 
man  may  know  all  science  and  yet  remain  uneducated.  But  let  him 
truly  possess  himself  of  the  work  of  any  one  of  the  great  poets, 
and,  no  matter  what  else  he  may  fail  to  know,  he  is  not  without 
education. 

"  The  field  of  good  literature  is  so  vast  that  there  is  something 
in  it  for  every  intelligence.  But  the  field  of  bad  literature  is  not 
less  broad,  and  is  likely  to  be  preferred  by  the  common,  unculti- 
vated taste.  To  make  good  reading  more  attractive  than  bad,  to 
give  right  direction  to  the  choice,  the  growing  intelligence  of  the 
child  should  be  nourished  with  selected  portions  of  the  best  litera- 
ture, the  virtue  of  which  has  been  approved  by  long  consent.  These 
selections,  besides  merit  in  point  of  literary  form,  should  possess  as 
general  human  interest  as  possible,  and  should  be  specially  chosen 
with  reference  to  the  culture  of  the  imagination. 

"  The  imagination  is  the  supreme  intellectual  faculty,  and  yet  it 
is  of  all  the  one  which  receives  least  attention  in  our  common  sys- 
tems of  education.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  imagina- 
tion is  of  all  the  faculties  the  most  difficult  to  control,  it  is  most 
elusive  of  all,  the  most  far-reaching  in  its  relations,  the  rarest  in  its 
full  power.  But  upon  its  healthy  development  depend  not  only 
the  sound  exercise  of  the  faculties  of  observation  and  judgment, 
but  also  the  command  of  the  reason,  the  control  of  the  will,  and 
the  quickening  and  growth  of  the  moral  sympathies.  The  means 
for  its  culture  which  good  reading  affords  is  the  most  generally 
available  and  one  of  the  most  efficient." — (Preface  to  the  Heart  of 
Oak  Books,  Second  Book.) 


CHAPTER  XI. 

REQUISITES   FOR   READING. 

In  order  that  one  may  read  in  the  sense  that  we  have 
denned  reading,  he  must  possess  three  different  qualifica- 
tions, viz. : — 

1.  He  must  have  a  mental  preparation — intellectual, 
emotional,  and  volitional— such  as  will  enable  him  to  re- 
ceive the  knowledge,  feeling,  and  purpose  with  which  the 
composition  that  he  reads  is  charged. 

2.  He  must  be  master  of  the  mechanism  or  machinery 
of  the  printed  page ;  he  must  know  the  power  and  use, 
both  singly  and  in  combination,  of  the  characters  that  are 
used  in  the  expression, or  symbolism  of  written  or  printed 
thought. 

3.  He  must  have  a  vocal  or  an  elocutionary  training 
that  will  enable  him  to  convey  to  others  by  means  of  his 
voice  what  he  himself  finds  on  the  printed  page.  Here  it 
is  that  reading  forms  a  connection  with  the  earlier  art  of 
speaking. 

The  first  of  these  requisites  is  general  and  spiritual ; 
the  second  and  third  are  special  and  mechanical.  The 
first  one  sums  up  the  whole  of  the  reader's  mental  cultiva- 
tion, the  other  two  constitute  the  technique,  or  the  art,  of 
reading.  For  silent  reading,  of  course,  only  the  first  and 
second  are  necessary ;  for  oral  reading  the  third  is  equally 
essential. 

Properly  to  teach  reading  due  attention  must  be  paid 

79 


80  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

to  every  one  of  these  three  requirements :  To  mental  prep- 
aration in  respect  to  subject-matter,  to  the  apparatus  of 
points,  letters,  words,  and  sentences,  and  to  vocal  drill  or 
expression.  While  it  would  be  too  much  to  say  that 
teachers  as  a  class  understand  fully  the  second  and  third 
of  these  canons,  they  certainly  understand  thern  better 
than  they  do  the  first  one.  Some  fail  to  understand  what 
reading  is  ;  they  appear  to  assume  that  it  is  the  mere  play 
of  the  vocal  organs,  the  simple  utterance  of  language. 
Chinese  youth,  for  example,  in  the  first  period  of  school 
life,  commit  to  memory,  and  learn  to  recite  with  faultless 
utterance,  The  Five  Classics  and  The  Four  Books,  from 
which,  as  the  oral  and  literary  languages  of  the  country 
are  wholly  different,  they  do  not  receive  a  glimmer  of  an 
idea.  Later  they  are  taught  the  literary  language ;  but 
in  this  first  period,  according  to  the  purely  mechanical 
conception,  they  are  the  most  accomplished  readers  in  the 
world. 

Unfortunately,  the  relation  of  the  art  of  reading  to 
mental  cultivation  as  a  whole  is  not  always  understood. 
It  is  an  effect  as  well  as  a  cause  of  such  cultivation.  We 
learn  in  order  to  read,  as  well  as  read  in  order  to  learn. 
No  man's  knowledge  ever  began,  or  ever  will  begin,  with 
reading.  Before  we  ever  read  a  word  we  have  accumu- 
lated, by  the  use  of  the  senses  and  by  reflection,  a  stock  of 
facts,  ideas,  and  images  without  which  we  could  never  read 
at  all.  Later  in  life  words  often  come  before  things  or 
ideas,  but  at  first  things  must  come  before  words.  Nor 
can  we  grow  in  power  to  read  unless  we  keep  in  relation 
constantly  with  the  original  sources  of  knowledge.  Pro- 
fessor J.  S.  Blackie  has  remarked  that  while,  in  modern 
times,  instruction  is  communicated  by  means  of  books, 
and  while  they  are  very  useful  helps  to  knowledge,  and 
even  to  the  practice  of  useful  arts,  still  they  are  never  the 


REQUISITES  FOR  READING.  81 

primary  and  natural  sources  of  culture,  and  their  virtue  is 
apt  to  be  overrated.  They  are  not  creative  powers  in 
any  sense;  they  are  merely  helps,  instruments,  or  tools, 
and  even  as  tools  they  are  artificial,  superadded  to  those 
with  which  the  wise  prevision  of  Nature  has  equipped 
us.  "  The  original  and  proper  sources  of  knowledge  are 
not  books,  but  life,  experience,  personal  thinking,  feeling, 
and  acting.  When  a  man  starts  with  these,  books  can 
fill  up  many  gaps,  correct  much  that  is  inaccurate,  and 
extend  much  that  is  inadequate;  but,  without  living  ex- 
perience to  work  on,  books  are  like  rain  and  sunshine 
fallen  on  unbroken  soil."  Hence  the  Scotch  professor 
urges  his  young  readers  to  cultivate  the  direct  observation 
of  facts,  and  not  to  be  content  with  cultivating  books.  *  It 
is  indeed  to  be  said  that  words  in  themselves  are  things 
as  much  as  material  objects,  and  that  as  such  they  may  be 
made  the  subject  of  study,  but  this  is  apart  from  their 
primitive  function  as  signs  of  ideas  and  as  vehicles  of 
thought. 

After  all  that  has  been  said  and  written,  teachers  do 
not  yet  sufficiently  appreciate  the  bearing  of  what  we  al- 
ready know  upon  what  we  have  yet  to  learn.  At  first  the 
mind  looks  at  objects  directly  and  impartially  ;  there  in- 
tervenes between  it  and  its  object  no  medium  or  prism  of 
ideas  or  previous  mental  experience;  so  that  there  is  a 
native  innocency  of  the  mind  as  well  as  of  the  eye.  But 
this  virgin  state  of  mind  does  not  last  long.  The  first- 
formed  ideas  condition  all  later  ones.  They  become  types, 
forms,  or  cadres  to  which  new  objects  are  referred.  "  For 
wherever  it  is  at  all  possible,"  as  has  been  said,  "  the  child 
refers  the  new  to  the  related  older  ideas.  With  the  aid  of 
familiar  perceptions,  he  appropriates  that  which  is  foreign 

*  Self-Culture :  The  Culture  of  the  Intellect. 


82  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

to  him,  and  conquers  with  the  arms  of  apperception  the 
outer  world  which  assails  his  senses."  *  Thus  the  child 
reared  up  in  the  south  brought  north  may  call  snowflakes 
butterflies,  while  any  child  for  a  period  calls  every  man  a 
papa,  every  woman  a  mamma.  When  the  Romans  first 
saw  elephants  they  called  them  Lucanian  oxen.  The  word 
Handschuh  shows  that  the  Germans  clothed  their  feet  be- 
fore they  did  their  hands.  Old  ideas  affect  new  ones  in 
two  ways — they  facilitate  their  formation  and  also  shape 
them.  Nothing  but  fuller  experience  can  correct  the 
hasty  and  overwide  generalizations  that  are  so  character- 
istic of  young  and  immature  minds.  But,  on  the  whole, 
the  resulting  advantages  are  very  great ;  we  may  even  say 
that  they  measure  all  gain  or  increase  of  mental  power. 
Thus  it  is  that,  other  things  being  equal,  those  who  know 
most  already  are  the  best  fitted  to  learn.  The  people  who 
saw  most  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  were  the  people  who 
carried  most  to  it.  The  Eskimos  of  the  story  found  noth- 
ing to  interest  them  in  the  streets  of  London. f  Apper- 
ception conditions  all  mental  growth  after  the  first  begin- 
ning is  made,  and  so  is  of  universal  value  ;  but  there  are 
reasons  why  the  fact  should  be  especially  borne  in  mind 
when  the  immediate  source  or  channel  of  knowledge  is 
a  book. 

We  have  already  seen  that,  to  a  degree,  the  reader 
must  have  one  life  with  the  author  ;  that  he  must  be  able 
measurably  to  think  his  thoughts,  feel  his  emotions,  and 
will  his  purposes.  He  need  not  stand  on  as  high  a  plane 
as  the  author,  but  he  must  not  fall  too  far  below  him. 


*Lange,  Anperception,  p.  55,  Boston,  1803. 

f  For  examples  of  apperception,  see  Tracy,  The  Psychology  of 
Childhood,  p.  45  ;  Taine,  The  Acquisition  of  Language  by  Children, 
Mind,  vol.  ii,  p.  255 ;  Lange,  Apperception  (Boston,  1893),  pp.  55,  56 ; 
De  Garmo,  The  Essentials  of  Method,  p.  30. 


REQUISITES  FOR  READING.  83 

No  one  can  really  read  Shakespeare  or  Milton  unless  he 
he  have  something  Shakespearian  or  Miltonic  in  him. 
School  readers  must  be  graduated  to  the  culture  of  the 
pupils  who  are  to  use  them  ;  they  must  be  above  the 
pupils,  but  not  too  far  above  them,  for  if  they  abound  in 
facts,  ideas,  and  images  that  the  pupils  have  not  in  mind, 
or  their  similars,  the  pupils  will  not  receive  much  profit, 
although  they  may  mechanically  learn  some  new  words 
or  language.  We  read  as  well  as  reason  from  what  we 
already  know. 

To  read  different  authors,  different  compositions  by 
the  same  author,  or  even  parts  of  the  same  composition, 
may  call  for  different  kinds  of  preparation.  One  author 
or  piece  moves  in  the  field  of  Nature ;  a  second  traverses 
history  and  literature ;  a  third  is  introspective  and  meta- 
physical ;  a  fourth  combines  facts,  reflections,  and  images 
coming  from  several  sources.  A  man  whose  reading  and 
thought  have  lain  in  the  channel  of  human  affairs  solelv, 
does  not  find  tongues  in  trees,  sermons  in  stones,  books  in 
the  running  brooks,  and  good  in  everything.  Nor  will 
he  who  has  dwelt  only  in  the  presence  of  Nature  read- 
ily thread  the  mazes  of  history.  Take  this  stanza  from 
Tennyson  : 

"  The  rain  had  fallen,  the  poet  arose, 

He  passed  by  the  town  and  out  of  the  street ; 
A  light  wind  blew  from  the  gates  of  the  sun, 
And  waves  of  shadow  went  over  the  wheat." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  ideas  which  enable 
one  to  appreciate  these  lines  come  from  personal  con- 
tact with  Nature.  It  is  labour  lost  to  speak  of  waves  of 
shadow  on  a  wheat  field  to  one  who  has  never  seen  them, 
or  something  like  them.  Now,  take  the  following  from 
Macaulay : 

"  Milton  did  not  strictly  belong  to  any  of  the  classes 


84  TEACHING   TriE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

which  we  have  described.  He  was  not  a  Puritan.  lie  was 
not  a  Freethinker.  He  was  not  a  Cavalier.  In  his  charac- 
ter the  noblest  qualities  of  every  party  were  combined  in 
harmonious  union.  From  the  parliament  and  from  the 
court,  from  the  conventicle  and  from  the  Gothic  cloister, 
from  the  gloomy  and  sepulchral  circles  of  the  Eoundheads, 
and  from  the  Christmas  revel  of  the  hospitable  Cavalier, 
his  nature  selected  and  drew  to  itself  whatever  was  great 
and  good,  while  it  rejected  all  the  base  and  pernicious 
ingredients  by  which  those  fine  elements  were  defiled." 

This  passage  does  not  call  for  knowledge  of  Nature,  but 
for  knowledge  of  man ;  and  no  one  can  read  it  with  ap- 
preciation without  a  large  knowledge  of  English  history 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  Who  was  the  Puritan  ?  who 
the  Freethinker?  who  the  Cavalier?  What  was  the  con- 
venticle and  what  the  Gothic  cloister  ?  And  what  were 
the  elements,  great  and  good,  which  Milton's  nature  se- 
lected and  drew  to  itself  from  all  these  sources  ? 

Gray's  Elegy  moves  in  a  different  sphere  still.  Its 
note  is  personal  reflection  on  Nature  and  human  lite: 
it  is  marked  by  a  sweet  pensiveness. 

Then  what  a  mingling  of  ideas  in  the  well-known 
lines  of  Hamlet : 

"  Some  say  that  ever  'gainst  that  season  comes 
Wherein  our  Saviour's  birth  is  celebrated, 
The  bird  of  dawning  singeth  all  night  long ; 
And  then,  they  say,  no  spirit  can  walk  abroad. 
The  nights  are  wholesome ;  then  no  planets  strike, 
No  fairy  takes,  nor  witch  hath  power  to  charm, 
So  hallowed  and  so  gracious  is  the  time." 

The  import  of  the  argument  is  that  reading  calls  for  a 
certain  general  culture — that  man  or  child  must  read  up 
to  elevated  literature,  just  as  a  musician  must  sing  up  to 
elevated   music.     Perhaps  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the 


REQUISITES  FOR  READING.  85 

reading  in  the  schools  falls  far  below  this  level.  And  not 
only  so,  what  passes  for  reading  in  churches,  Sunday 
schools,  and  homes  is  often  merely  naming  words. 

The  proper  preparation  of  the  mind  for  reading  comes 
from  many  sources — personal  observation  of  Nature  and 
personal  contact  with  men,  previous  acquaintance  with 
books,  and  reflection  upon  what  one  has  seen  and  heard. 
Of  all  these  sources  Nature  contributes  to  the  child's  mind 
the  most  valuable  facts,  ideas,  and  images. 

"  God  made  the  country, 
Man  made  the  town." 

Hunting  for  the  spring  flowers,  chasing  with  the  eye  the 
shadows  on  the  wheat,  watching  the  flight  of  birds,  noting 
the  golden  lustre  of  the  grain  at  harvest ;  observing  the 
habits  of  animals,  wild  and  domestic,  the  qualities  of  phys- 
ical things,  the  forest  in  summer  and  in  winter,  the  clouds, 
and  the  changes  of  the  seasons — these  causes  work  lasting 
impressions  in  the  young,  and  particularly  in  brooding 
minds.  It  is  because  the  compilers  of  school  readers  feel 
this  that  they  give  so  much  prominence  to  lessons  dealing 
with  natural  scenes.  Moreover,  we  do  not  always  suffi- 
ciently consider  how  much  more  nearly  upon  a  level  with 
these  books  the  country  child  is  than  the  city  child,  and 
how  much  better  furnished  he  is  with  the  apparatus  re- 
quired to  interpret  such  lessons. 

On  the  whole,  when  we  consider  how  much  cultivation 
it  involves,  we  cease  to  think  the  remark  extravagant  that 
to  read  John  Ruskin  is  a  liberal  education. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

TEACHING   READING   AS   AN   ART. 

We  must  keep  clearly  in  mind  the  preparation  to  read 
that  the  child  who  has  never  looked  into  a  book  brings  to 
school.  First,  he  has  a  certain  store  of  facts,  ideas,  and 
images  gained  by  observation,  reflection,  and  conversation, 
which  serves  to  interpret  to  him,  through  the  process 
called  apperception,  the  new  facts  and  ideas  of  the  printed 
page — the  extent  and  nature  of  this  preparation  depend- 
ing upon  the  quickness  of  his  mind,  the  character  of  his 
environment,  natural  and  social,  and  particularly  upon 
the  cultivation  of  his  home.  Secondly,  he  has  at  com- 
mand a  certain  store  of  oral  language  by  which  he  both 
receives  and  conveys  ideas,  which  preparation  is  also  rela- 
tive in  both  quantity  and  quality,  being  determined  by 
the  activity  of  his  mind  and  the  speech  that  he  is  accus- 
tomed to  hear.  The  primary  teacher's  first  duty  is  to 
take  the  child  thus  equipped  and  to  teach  him  to  read. 
She  should  be  guided  by  the  following  canons  : — 

1.  The  pupil  must  at  once  attack  the  symbolism  of 
the  printed  page.  This  consists  of  arbitrary  characters 
combined  in  a  great  number  and  variety  of  ways.  The 
first  step  toward  reading  is  to  learn  to  recognise  these 
characters,  both  singly  and  in  combination.  This  is  in 
great  part  a  mechanical-mental  operation,  in  which  suc- 
cess depends  mainly  upon  natural  quickness  of  mind  and 
practice.     It  is  an  art  in  itself.     The  question  of  method, 

8G 


TEACHING  READING  AS  AN  ART.  87 

it  does  not  come  in  my  way  to  discuss ;  the  canons  that  I 
am  laying  down  apply,  no  matter  what  method  is  used. 
There  is  reason  to  think,  however,  that  the  method  is  not 
so  important  as  some  would  make  it ;  more,  probably,  de- 
pends upon  the  skill  with  which  it  is  handled  than  the 
method  itself;  or,  at  least,  reading  has  been  successfully 
taught  according  to  all  the  methods  that  have  been  in 
vogue.  Accordingly,  the  expression  "  singly  and  in  com- 
bination "  used  above  does  not  imply  that  such  should  be 
the  order  of  procedure,  but  that  the  completed  work  must 
embrace  both  the  items. 

2.  The  pupil  will  at  the  same  time  attack  the  vocal 
values  of  these  characters,  also  singly  and  in  combination. 
The  word  or  letter  has  a  form  that  appeals  to  the  eye,  and 
a  name  or  sound  that  appeals  to  the  ear ;  in  fact,  some 
letters  have  several  sounds  or,  in  reality,  several  names. 
The  form  and  the  name  are  in  no  way  related  save  by  ex- 
ternal association  ;  the  form  does  not  control  the  sound, 
or  vice  versa.  This  also  is  an  art ;  it  involves  the  associa- 
tion of  the  sound  and  the  form  with  the  ability  to  make 
the  sound.  Both  acts  are  in  great  degree  mechanical. 
Excellence  in  the  first  implies  quick  observation  and  re- 
tentive memory,  particularly  memory  for  sounds;  excel- 
lence in  the  second,  flexible  vocal  organs  and  much  prac- 
tice. 

Mastery  of  the  printed  symbols  employed  in  literature, 
and  of  their  vocal  values,  are  the  technical  elements  of  the 
art  of  reading.  They  are  to  reading  what  technique  is 
to  music.  They  should  advance  together.  Furthermore, 
they  should  receive  marked  emphasis  in  the  school  for  some 
time  after  the  child  enters  it,  say  for  two  or  three  years. 

The  acquirement  of  the  elements  of  the  art  of  reading 
may  in  after-years  seem  easy ;  the  fact  is,  however,  it  is 
difficult,  and  it  will  be  called  easy  only  by  those  who  do 


gg  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

not  understand  what  it  involves  or  who  have  forgotten 
their  own  early  struggles.  The  two  elements  are  not  only 
to  be  acquired,  but  they  are  to  be  associated — the  recog- 
nition of  the  symbols  and  the  utterance  of  their  vocal 
powers.  Dr.  Stanley  Hall  has  thus  characterized  read- 
ing :  "  In  fine,  the  growing  agreement  that  there  is  no 
one  and  only  orthodox  way  of  teaching  and  learning 
this  greatest  and  hardest  of  all  the  arts,  in  which  ear, 
mouth,  eye,  and  hand  must  each  in  turn  train  the  others 
to  automatic  perfection  in  ways  hard  and  easy,  by  devices 
old  and  new,  mechanically  and  consciously,  actively  and 
passively,  of  things  familiar  and  unknown,  and  by  alter- 
nately resting  and  modulating  from  one  set  of  faculties 
to  another,  secure  mental  unity  and  school  economy  both 
intellectual  and  material— this  is  a  great  gain  and  seems 
now  secure."  * 

3.  On  the  day  that  he  enters  the  school  the  pupil 
should  also  attack  the  significance  of  the  literary  symbols. 
Originally  these  symbols,  whether  considered  as  forms  or 
as  sounds,  had  little  to  do  with  meaning;  for  the  most 
part  the  meanings  of  words  in  any  language  which  has 
reached  the  written  stage  are  arbitrary.  Good  care  must 
be  taken  that  the  meanings  of  the  first  words,  or  thought- 
symbols,  that  are  used  in  teaching  reading,  shall  be  already 
familiar.  No  words  or  language  should  be  employed  the 
content  of  which  the  pupil  does  not  already  well  under- 
stand. The  thing  immediately  in  hand  is  to  associate  the 
meanings  and  the  forms  of  the  symbols,  and  this  must  be 
accomplished  mainly  by  sheer  dint  of  practice.  To  this 
extent  the  act  is  mechanical-mental ;  but  the  meanings 
themselves,  especially  as  they  flow  into  a  stream  of  thought, 
are  purely  psychological.      This  brings  us  back  to  the 


*  How  to  Teach  Reading,  p.  15. 


TEACHING  READING  AS  AN  ART.  89 

original  analysis.  Reading  involves  (1)  recognition  of  the 
printed  symbols ;  (2)  ability  to  express  their  sound  equiv- 
alents; (3)  understanding  of  the  subject-matter.  To  illus- 
trate, "  cat "  or  "  lion  "  as  form,  as  sound,  and  as  idea  are 
distinct  and  separate,  and  nothing  but  convention  has 
brought  the  three  elements  into  connection.  To  read, 
therefore,  one  must  observe  the  convention.  Obviously, 
the  first  and  second  elements  of  the  whole  art  may  be  ac- 
quired by  themselves,  as  in  the  case  of  Chinese  school- 
boys ;  the  second  may  fall  out  altogether,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  deaf-mute  reader;  while  the  third,  although  not  essen- 
tial to  the  second,  gives  to  it  that  peculiar  quality  which 
we  call  expression.  Nor  will  it  be  amiss  to  say  again  that 
the  psychological  element  only  is  of  the  essence  of  read- 
ing. The  emphasis  laid  upon  the  mechanical  elements  in 
the  first  grade,  the  fact  that  at  first  the  reading  lesson  as 
such  can  not  add  anything  to  the  child's  real  knowledge 
outside  of  the  art  of  reading  itself  considered  as  an  object 
—since  the  lessons  must  be  strictly  limited  to  what  the 
child  already  knows— these  two  facts  for  a  time  throw  the 
content  of  language  into  the  background.  At  first,  rend- 
ing is  psychological  (properly  so  called)  only  in  so  far  as 
it  involves  permanent  associations  of  the  three  several  ele- 
ments, the  most  important  associations  being  those  be- 
tween the  old  ideas  and  the  corresponding  word-forms. 
Not  until  reading  as  a  mechanical-mental  art  has  been 
measurably  mastered— that  is,  not  until  the  child  has 
measurably  learned  to  "  read  "  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the 
home  and  of  the  school— does  it  become  an  instrument  or 
tool  for  the  acquisition  of  new  knowledge.  To  convey 
knowledge  at  first  through  reading,  strictly  speaking,  is 
impossible.  The  fact  is,  that  if  all  the  time  which  is  spent 
in  teaching  the  pupil  to  read  as  a  mere  art  were  devoted 
to  enlarging  his  real  knowledge  or  mental  store  by  plying 


90  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

his  faculties  of  observation  with  objects,  and  through  con- 
versation, he  would  know  more  at  the  end  of  a  year  of 
school  life  than  he  now  knows.  To  be  sure,  the  art  itself 
contains  objects  of  real  knowledge,  though  of  little  value 
abstractly  considered,  and  also  confers  discipline;  still, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  real  knowledge  the  time  so 
spent  is  mainly  wasted.  But  this  waste  we  gladly  incur, 
since  this  incomparable  instrument  of  acquirement,  when 
once  gained,  is  a  hundredfold  compensation.  Accord- 
ingly, more  and  more  emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  the 
content  of  language  as  the  child  ascends  the  grades,  until 
at  last  the  art  of  reading  is  merged  in  the  study  of  liter- 
ature. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  some  will  object  to  the  minor 
stress  laid  upon  the  thought-element  in  the  first  stage  of 
teaching  reading.  Such  fail  to  understand  that  the  first 
thing  to  do  is  to  master  a  mechanical- mental  art — they 
fail  to  see  that  the  tool  must  first  be  fabricated  before  it 
can  be  used.  The  pupil  should  indeed  be  caused  to  un- 
derstand the  ideas  that  the  exercise  or  lesson  holds  ;  but 
all  attempts  to  do  more,  for  the  time,  will  not  only  fail  to 
enlarge  real  knowledge,  through  reading^  but  will  retard 
the  formation  of  the  art.  A  lesson  in  reading  and  an 
object-lesson  may  be  combined  in  one  ;  the  child  may 
get,  in  the  first  stage,  new  ideas  at  the  same  time  that  he 
acquires  his  art ;  but  the  new  ideas  come  from  the  object- 
lesson  and  not  from  the  reading  as  such.  To  quote  Dr. 
Hall  again  : 

"  Children  are  so  automatic  and  imitative,  have  such  a 
genius  for  the  facile  acquisitions  of  habit,  and  are  so  easily 
stupefied  by  reasons  and  explanations,  that  some  seem 
to  learn  to  read  and  write  so  mechanically  as  to  get  by 
it  no  trace  whatever  of  real  mental  discipline  or  devel- 
opment.    The  sooner  all  these  processes  are  completely 


TEACHING  READING  AS  AN  ART.  91 

mechanized,  so  that  reading  is  rapid,  sure,  and  free,  the 
sooner  the  mind  can  attend  to  the  subject-matter.  Till 
then,  Benecke  thought  reading  and  writing  a  necessary 
evil,  and  that  processes  so  mechanical  and  arbitrary 
should  be  taught  mechanically  and  arbitrarily,  hoping 
for  a  time  when  children  should  be  born  with  the  spell- 
ing-mechanism innate  and  instinctively  perfect  in  their 
brains."  * 

The  teacher  must  remember  that  oral  reading  is  a 
form  of  speech,  or  of  talking,  and  that  imitation  is  the  key 
word  in  one  as  in  the  other.  Rules  should  play  no  more 
part  in  primary  reading  than  in  talking.  The  teacher 
should  not  say,  "  Follow  such  a  rule,"  but  "  Do  so,"  setting 
an  appropriate  example.  A  poor  reader  is  little  likely  to 
make  good  ones.  The  attempt  to  cause  the  child  to  fol- 
low rules  will  breed  confusion  of  mind  and  prevent  that 
freedom  and  spontaneity  which  are  the  first  marks  of 
good  reading,  as  they  are  of  good  talking.  Even  the  ob- 
servance of  punctuation  marks  should  come  by  habit  or 
practice,  and  should  be  -instinctive  rather  than  reflective 
and  self-conscious.  The  rules  found  in  Noah  Webster's 
spelling  book,  "  Stop  at  a  period  long  enough  to  count 
six,"  etc.,  are  altogether  absurd.  On  this  point  Quintilian 
is  a  safe  guide.  "As  to  reading,"  he  says,  "  practice 
alone  can  inform  the  young  gentleman  where  he  ought 
to  take  breath ;  where  he  is  to  lay  the  accent  in  a  line ; 
where  he  is  to  finish  one  period  or  begin  another ;  when 
he  is  to  raise  or  when  to  lower  his  voice,  and  at  every 
turn  to  know  when  to  speak  quick  or  slow,  with  spirit  or 
with  softness."  Upon  this  head  he  recommends  one  gen- 
eral rule  in  order  to  enable  the  boy  to  do  all  that  has 
been  mentioned,  which  is,  "  Let  him  understand  what  he 

*  How  to  Teach  Reading,  pp.  13,  14. 


92  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

reads."     The  ease  or  difficulty  with  which  children  learn 
to  read,  in  the  real  sense  of  the  word,  differs  greatly  with 
different   children.      Much   depends    upon    Nature   and 
much  upon  environment.     Quick-witted  children  brought 
up  in  intelligent  homes,  where  they  hear  from  birth  good 
reading  and  talking,  will,  under  good  tuition,  learn  to 
read  almost  as  naturally  as  a  thrush  learns  to  sing.     Mr. 
Scudder  questions  whether  Dogberry  "  did  not  stumble 
upon  a  truth,  and  narrowly  graze  a  most  profound  maxim," 
when  he  exclaimed, "  To  write  and  read  comes  by  nature ! " 
There  can  be  small  doubt  that  reading  aloud  is  much 
less  practised  in  good  homes  now  than  it  was  formerly, 
when  reading  matter  was  less  abundant.      Conversation 
has  been  called  a  lost  art ;  perhaps  reading  aloud  is  quite 
as  much  so.     At  all  events,  reading  aloud  in  the  family 
is  almost  as  helpful  to  children  learning  to  read  as  talk- 
ing in  the  family  is  to  children  who  are  learning  to  talk. 
Professor  Dowden  remarks  :  "  Few  persons  nowadays  seem 
to  feel  how  powerful  an   instrument  of  culture  can  be 
found   in   modest,  intelligent,  and   sympathetic  reading 
aloud."     He  makes  a  justifiable  attack  on  "the  reciter 
and  the  elocutionist,"   who  "of  late  have  done  so  much 
to  rob  us  of  this,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  fine 
arts,"  *  but  says  nothing  about  the  decay  of  the  habit  of 
reading  aloud,  which  is  a  still  more  observable  fact,  and 
one  still  more  to  be  regretted.     Professor  Corson  contends 
earnestly  for  the  cultivation  of  the  reading  voice.     Urging 
his  favourite  thesis  in  respect  to  vocal  cultivation  he  says : 
"  How  much  the  charm  of  beauty's  powerful  glance,  may  be 
heightened  or  reduced  by  the  character  of  the  voice  which 
goes  along  with  it !     A  woman  with  a  sweet  and  gracious 
voice  can  exert  through  it  in  the  ordinary  relations  of  life, 
without  even  knowing  it,  a  better  influence  than  she  could 

*  New  Studies  in  Literature,  pp.  431,  432. 


TEACHING  READING  AS  AN  ART.  93 

by  distributing  religious  tracts.  The  moral  atmosphere 
of  a  home  may  be  not  a  little  due  to  the  voice  of  the  wife 
and  mother.  The  mere  memory  of  a  voice  which  was 
toned  by  love  and  sympathy  may  continue  to  be  a  sweet 
influence  long  after  the  voice  itself  has  been  hushed  in 
death.  The  influence  of  the  voice  for  good  or  evil,  in  the 
domestic,  social,  and  all  other  relations  of  life,  can  not  be 
estimated.  A  voice  may  even  have  a  good  or  bad  reflex 
action  upon  its  possessor."  * 

Note. — Mr.  George  Ticknor,  when  studying  in  Germany,  wrote 
to  his  father  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  reciting  German  to  his 
teacher  and  of  reading  aloud  to  him  in  some  book  which  required 
some  considerable  exertion  of  the  voice.  This  the  father,  Mr. 
Elisha  Ticknor,  approved,  but  added  these  suggestions,  which  will 
bear  quotation : 

"It  is  not  of  so  much  importance  for  you  to  read  aloud  to  a 
German  as  it  is  that  a  German  should  read  aloud  to  you.  Select 
one  of  the  finest  oratorical  readers  in  Gottingen,  whose  voice  is 
round,  and  full,  and  melodious.  Place  yourself  twenty  feet  from 
him,  if  possible.  Request  him  to  select  and  read  aloud  to  you  a 
pathetic  oratorical  piece  in  German— such  a  piece,  if  possible,  as 
will  command  all  the  powers  of  speech  and  eloquence.  .  .  .  Twenty 
pieces  thus  read  to  you  by  him,  and  in  turn  by  you  to  him,  in  his 
tone  of  voice,  would  do  you  ten,  twenty,  yes,  thirty  times  as  much 
good  as  it  would  for  you  to  read  to  him  first,  and  in  the  common  way, 
at  common  distance,  and  in  common  language.  It  is  the  tone  of 
the  voice,  and  the  attitude  of  a  polished  German  scholar,  which  you 
need  to  be  able  to  read  and  speak  German  well,  like  a  German  gentle- 
man and  scholar.  Do  the  same  in  Paris,  in  Rome,  in  London,  and 
what  you  will  hear  and  see  otherwise  at  the  bar,  and  from  the  pulpit, 
and  in  common  conversation,  without  any  particular  exertion  of 
your  own,  will  be  sufficient  to  answer  all  your  purposes  and  all  my 
expectations,  which  are  but  few,  although  yon  may  think  they  are 
many."— (Life.  Letters,  and  Journals  of  George  Ticknor,  vol.  ii,  p. 
503.) 

*  The  Atlantic  Monthly.  June,  1895,  p.  815.     See  also  his  Aims 
of  Literary  Study,  pp.  129,  130. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

TEACHING   BEADING   AS   THOUGHT. 

The  phrase  "  to  teach  one  to  read,"  as  we  have  seen, 
may  express  either  one  of  two  ideas.  It  may  mean  to 
teach  a  mechanical-mental  art,  the  use  of  a  mere  tool,  or 
it  may  mean  the  employment  of  this  art  or  tool  to  unlock 
the  mysteries  of  the  printed  page.  While  the  two  mean- 
ings are  closely  connected,  they  can  still  be  separated  in 
thought  and  also  in  practice.  The  second,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  remark,  is  the  higher  meaning  ;  it  is  the  end 
to  which  all  instruction  in  the  art  or  mechanism  of  read- 
ing should  be  directed.  When  thus  employed,  the  stu- 
dent's attention  is  no  longer  fixed  on  the  mere  art ;  the 
use  of  the  tool  has  become  mainly  automatic,  while  the 
matter  of  the  page  absorbs  the  mind.  Having  in  the 
last  chapter  said  all  I  deem  it  necessary  to  say  about  the 
mechanical  aspect  of  the  subject,  we  must  now  consider 
the  thought  aspect. 

And,  first,  much  that  has  been  said  about  the  language- 
arts  in  general  applies  to  reading  as  thought — so  difficult 
is  it,  or  rather  impossible,  to  separate  the  two  subjects. 
This  close  relationship,  while  it  lightens  the  work  of  the 
teacher,  rather  embarrasses  the  writer  who  attempts  to 
describe  the  work,  making  more  or  less  repetition  inevi- 
table. The  following  are  the  points  that  need  to  be  par- 
ticularly observed  : — 

1.  At   the   very  first,  teaching   reading    presents,   or 

94 


TEACHING  READING  AS  THOUGHT.      95 

should  present,  but  one  phase.  The  child  can  do  nothing 
alone,  and  the  teacher  must  work  with  him  as  well  as  for 
him.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  preparation  or  study 
apart  from  the  reading  exercises,  or  rather  everything  is 
preparation  for  reading  in  the  future.  The  single  exer- 
cise, commonly  given  on  the  blackboard  or  the  chart,  is 
wholly  homogeneous.  Therefore,  when  the  teacher  stops 
everything  stops.  These  remarks  apply  to  the  mechanical 
side  as  well  as  to  the  thought  side  of  the  subject. 

2.  Soon,  however,  the  work  will  begin  to  differentiate. 
*  The  first  step  in  this  direction  will  be  the  tendency  to 

make  two  exercises — one  preparation  or  study  of  the  les- 
son, and  the  other  reading  it ;  and  both  will  be  taken 
under  the  teacher's  immediate  leadership.  This  division, 
begun  but  slowly,  will  in  time  be  distinctly  recognised. 
The  preparation  will  include  the  substance  of  all  the  ele- 
ments of  composition — words,  sentences,  and  paragraphs. 
HThe  next  step  in  the  evolution  is  the  student's  own  in- 
dependent work  on  the  lesson.  <  Gradually  he  will  win 
standing-ground,  and  as-  he  does  so  the  teacher  will  throw 
him  more  and  more  on  his  own  resources.  First  will 
come  the  so-called  "  silent  reading  "  of  the  lower  primary 
grades,  to  be  followed  in  time  by  the  so-called  "  study  "  of 
the  higher  grades.  The  pupil's  own  independent  work 
may  sometimes  follow  and  sometimes  precede  the  study  of 
the  lesson  in  the  class.  This  third  step  taken,  all  the  forms 
of  exercise  used  in  teaching  reading  are  present.  Supple- 
mentary reading  deals  only  with  a  special  class  of  reading 
matter. 

3.  Independent  work  by  the  pupil  involves  the  assign- 
ment of  a  lesson.  Particular  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
lessons  assigned  shall  be  on  the  pupil's  level  of  knowledge 
and  language.  The  successive  lessons  will  contain  new 
words  and  new  ideas,  otherwise  there  will  be  no  progress 


96  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-AIITS. 

but  any  lesson  is  on  the  pupil's  level  in  case  he  can  rise  to 
it  with  reasonable  assistance  from  the  teacher. 

4.  In  assigning  a  new  lesson  the  teacher  should,  as  a 
rule,  first  tell  the  young  children  what  it  is  about,  and  par- 
ticularly if  the  subject  is  a  new  and  unfamiliar  one.  More 
than  this,  she  should  direct  attention  to  the  difficult  parts 
of  the  lesson,  also,  as  the  meaning  and  pronunciation  of 
new  words,  and  the  force  of  particular  expressions.  In 
early  lessons  all  new  words  should  be  put  on  the  black- 
board and  be  explained,  both  phonetically  and  as  signs 
of  ideas. 

5.  From  the  time  that  they  are  able  to  do  so,  pupils 
should  be  required  to  study  their  lessons  in  advance  of  the 
class  exercise.  Increasing  stress  must  be  laid  on  this 
feature  of  the  work,  as  the  direct  participation  of  the 
teacher  in  the  preparation  of  the  lesson  is  withdrawn. 
There  is  reason  to  fear  that  many  pupils,  after  they  have 
made  a  fair  beginning  in  reading,  do  not  think  such  study 
necessary.  They  understand  that  they  must  prepare  the 
lessons  in  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  etc.,  but  the 
reading  lessons — why,  that  is  merely  so  much  time  in  the 
class !  This  is  one  point  where  the  teacher  will  find  it 
necessary  to  resist  the  steady  pressure  of  the  more  ad- 
vanced pupils.  The  ordinary  reading  exercise  calls  for 
preparation  as  much  as  any  other  exercise  that  can  be 
named.     In  the  words  of  a  German  writer : 

"  Before  the  child  begins  to  read,  it  must  know  what 
it  is  going  to  read  about.  The  pupil  must  read  with  at- 
tention and  with  interest  which  the  teacher  has  excited 
before  the  reading  begins.  T^he  difficulties  also  which 
would  interfere  with  the  interest  must  be  removed  before- 
hand. Everything  most  necessary  to  a  good  understand- 
ing of  the  subject  should  be  explained  at  the  outset,  and 
not  at  the  end  when  the   best  impressions  are  effaced. 


TEACHING   READING   AS  THOUGHT.  97 

The  teacher  must  connect  every  new  reading  lesson  with 
the  sense  perceptions  already  obtained,  or  with  what  has 
already  been  read,  and  thereby  make  it  comprehensible."  * 
G.  The  teacher  in  the  higher  grades  and  in  the  high 
school  will  find  it  advantageous,  as  frequently  as  possible, 
to  study  a  lesson  with  the  class.  Such  study  should  occa- 
sionally be  conducted  on  the  intensive  plan.  Grammatical 
questions  may  be  introduced,  and  every  pains  should  be 
taken  to  illustrate  the  composition  or  passage.  Obser- 
vation has  taught  me  that  pupils  often,  if  not  indeed 
generally,  fail  to  take  full  views  of  reading  lessons.  While 
the  sentences  may  be  understood  one  by  one,  the  larger 
units  that  they  compose  are  not  grasped.  If  the  passage 
is  argument  or  reasoning,  it  is  not  thought  out ;  if  it  is 
description,  the  imagination  does  not  work  out  the  picture. 
To  a  great  extent,  of  course,  these  imperfect  views  are  in- 
cident to  the  immature  minds  of  pupils.  Then  short 
and  imperfect  views  are  due  in  part  to  the  school  readers. 
The  readers  are  made  up  mainly  of  pieces  and  fragments, 
and  the  complete  compositions  found  in  them  are  com- 
monly few  and  always  short.  In  books  prepared  for  early 
grades  this  is,  no  doubt,  necessary;  nor  can  it  be  wholly 
avoided  in  the  more  advanced  books.  No  doubt  the 
school  reader  must  be  a  more  or  less  chopped-up  com- 
pilation ;  at  the  same  time  it  is  very  desirable  that  the 
pupil  shall  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  complete  and 
considerably  extended  compositions.  The  evil  that  the 
readers  entail  may  be  corrected  through  supplementary 
reading  and  literature.  I  approve  the  method  recom- 
mended by  the  Conference  on  English  to  the  Committee 
of  Ten.  "  From  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  at  school, 
the  pupil  should  be  required  to  supplement  his  regular 


*  Cuttmann,  quoted  by  Lange  :  Apperception,  p.  210. 


98  TEACHING  TTIE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

reading-book  with  other  reading  matter  of  a  distinctly 
literary  kind.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  school 
year  the  reading-book  may  be  discarded,  and  the  pupil 
should  henceforth  read  literature — prose  and  narrative 
poetry  in  about  equal  parts.  Complete  works  should 
usually  be  studied.  When  extracts  must  be  resorted  to, 
these  should  be  long  enough  to  possess  a  unity  of  their 
own,  and  to  serve  as  a  fair  specimen  of  an  author's  style 
and  method."  * 

7.  Constant  efforts  must  be  made  to  connect  the  read- 
ing lesson  with  all  other  available  sources  of  cultivation. 
The  teacher  should  appeal  to  the  pupil's  own  personal  ob- 
servation and  reflection,  the  new  ideas  should  be  integrated 
with  old  ones,  and  pains  be  taken  to  unite  the  reading 
with  the  other  studies,  and  particularly  with  history  and 
geography.  The  newspaper  and  magazine,  the  cyclopaedia 
and  dictionary,  and,  above  all,  books  of  general  literature, 
are  invaluable  helps.  In  other  words,  the  teaching  must 
be  on  the  intensive  plan.  Professor  Laurie  remarks  that 
"  the  question  of  method  at  this  stage  resolves  itself  very 
much  into  this :  How  shall  we  best  use  the  reading  lesson 
as  a  lesson  in  language  and  through  language  in  the  hu- 
manities? Here  more  than  anywhere  else  the  cultiva- 
tion, the  knowledge,  the  sympathy,  the  imagination,  the 
educative  skill  of  a  teacher  show  themselves.  The  read- 
ing lesson  is  the  common  ground  on  which  the  true  mind 
of  master  and  pupil  meet."  f  This  is  well  said,  but  a  ques- 
tion almost  equally  important  is,  How  shall  we  best  use 
language  as  a  lesson  in  reading  and  through  reading  in 
the  humanities? 

8.  Mention  of  the  dictionary  suggests  another  topic 


*  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Secondary  School  Studies,  p.  89. 
Washington,  1892.  \  Page  32. 


TEACHING  READING  AS  THOUGHT.      99 

that  demands  fuller  treatment,  viz.,  definitions.  Mean- 
ings of  words  are  the  keys  to  the  printed  page.  Still, 
the  study  of  meanings  is  not  just  the  same  thing  as  the 
study  of  definitions.  It  is  true,  paradoxical  as  it  may 
appear,  that  a  reader  may  grasp  the  thought  of  a  passage 
as  a  whole  when  he  can  not  define  all  the  words  one  by 
one,  or  does  not  even  understand  them  all ;  it  is  equally 
true  that  he  may  define  and  understand  the  words  one  by 
one  and  fail  to  grasp  the  whole  thought.  The  mind  may 
take  either  one  of  two  views,  both  of  which  are  harmful 
when  carried  too  far  :  it  may  overlook  small  points  in  the 
general  drift  or  substance  of  the  passage,  or  it  may  be  so 
intent  on  small  points  that  it  fails  altogether  to  grasp 
the  drift  or  substance. 

A  definition  does  not  add  to  one's  real  knowledge 
unless  it  connects  itself  with  something  that  he  already 
knows.  It  must  go  back  to  some  real  or  vital  element 
in  his  mind.  The  growth  of  knowledge  is  a  process  of 
grafting  a  new  fact  or  new  idea  into  an  old  one  ;  *  the 
scion  draws  its  sap,  life,  and  growth  from  the  stock  in 
which  it  is  set ;  and  foTbring  a  fact  or  an  idea  to  a  mind 
having  no  kindred  fact  or  idea  is  no  less  futile  than  it 
would  be  to  set  a  graft  in  a  branch  of  a  dead  tree. 

Further,  a  definition  consists  of  two  parts — the  generic 
part  and  the  characteristic,  specific,  or  differencing  part. 
Thus,  a  "  map  is  a  picture  "  (the  generic  part)  "  of  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface "  (the  character- 
istic). A  good  definition  always  refers  the  object  defined 
to  its  genus,  and  then  points  out  wherein  it  differs  from 
other  objects  or  species  belonging  to  the  same  genus.  We 
must  have  some  idea  of  both  of  these  parts  in  order  to 
learn  anything.     When  you  tell  a  child  that  a  "  calabash 


*  "  Receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted  word  "  (James  i,  21). 


100  TRACKING  THE   LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

is  a  vessel  made  of  a  gourd,"  you  add  to  his  knowledge 
provided  he  already  knows  what  a  vessel  is,  and  a  gourd  ; 
but  if  he  is  ignorant  of  both  these  things  you  give  him 
merely  a  new  word,  or  if  he  is  ignorant  of  one  of  them  you 
merely  give  him  half  an  idea. 

The  point  just  made  must  be  carefully  guarded.  The 
small  dictionaries,  which  give  short  definitions  without  il- 
lustrative examples,  often  prove  snares  to  the  feet  of  both 
pupils  and  teachers.  Teaching  definitions  from  the  school 
reader  may  even  be  a  harmful  process.  The  pupil  may 
recite  his  definitions  glibly,  when  a  little  questioning 
will  reveal  the  fact  that  he  has  committed  to  memory 
some  strings  of  words  soon  to  be  forgotten.  To  define  a 
cent  as  "  one  hundredth  part  of  a  dollar,"  and  then  a  dol- 
lar as  "  one  hundred  cents,"  is  merely  to  run  around  a 
small  circle.  Too  much  pains  can  not  be  taken  to  bring 
definitions  into  relation  with  real  things,  natural  or  men- 
tal, as  the  case  may  be.  Mr.  Marsh  is  right  in  contend- 
ing that  there  is  a  large  and  increasing  part  of  all  mod- 
ern vocabularies  which  can  be  comprehended  only  by  the 
observation  of  Nature  and  scientific  experiment — in  short, 
by  the  study  of  things. 

Another  point  may  be  mentioned.  It  is  an  invariable 
rule  that,  in  defining  a  word,  no  form  of  the  same  word 
should  be  employed,  as  a  verb  or  adjective  in  defining  a 
noun.  To  say  that  creeping  is  "  what  a  baby  does  when 
it  creeps  "  is  not  to  give  a  definition  at  all,  not  even  a  ver- 
bal one.  That  much  of  this  kind  of  work  is  done  in  the 
schools,  is  well  known  to  competent  observers. 

Words  should  be  studied  both  in  literature  and  in  the 
dictionary.  Either  kind  of  study  checks  the  other.  One 
is  to  study  the  word  in  itself,  the  other  in  situ.  A  geo- 
logical or  botanical  specimen  in  a  museum  is  not  what 
it  is  when  found  in  Nature.     The  boy  who  said  "  an  aver- 


TEACHING  READING  AS  THOUGHT.  101 

age  is  something  that  a  hen  lays  an  egg  on,"  had  evi- 
dently seen  the  word  "  average "  in  a  sentence ;  while 
the  boy  who  framed  the  sentence,  "  John  came  over  the 
sea  in  a  capillary,"  had  evidently  hunted  up  the  word 
"capillary"  in  the  dictionary.  In  reading,  thought  is 
obtained  by  successive  strokes  of  analysis  rather  than  by 
synthetic  construction  ;  the  mind  breaks  into  the  com- 
position, so  to  speak,  and  does  not  build  it  up  from  the 
letters,  syllables,  and  words ;  and  commonly  the  questions, 
What  is  the  force  of  this  expression  ?  or  What  idea  do 
you  get  from  that  language?  are  more  useful  than  the 
questions,  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  word  or  that  one  ? 
While  it  would  be  untrue  to  say  that  the  idea  should 
always  come  before  the  word,  we  are  not  to  forget  that 
the  primal  order  of  mental  growth  is  real  knowledge 
before  verbal  knowledge. 

9.  The  teacher  should  question  the  pupils  about  the 
lesson  before  they  read  it  in  the  class.  First  should  come 
some  general  questions  about  the  subject  and  scope  of  the 
lesson,  which  should  never  be  answered  in  the  words  of 
the  title.  Then  should  follow  more  definite  questions 
appropriate  to  the  subject-matter:  "What  did  John 
say?"  "What  kind  of  coat  did  the  beggar  wear?" 
"  Describe  the  house  that  the  man  lived  in."  "  Give  an 
account  of  the  performances  of  the  dog." 

10.  The  teacher  should  frequently  require  of  her  pupils 
summaries  of  portions  of  the  lesson,  both  before  and  after 
reading  in  the  class.  Also,  general  accounts  or  descrip- 
tions of  the  whole  lesson.  Oral  paraphrases  of  selected 
parts  will  re-enforce  the  work  in  language.  Such  exercises 
show  how  well  the  lesson  has  been  prepared  and  how 
thoroughly  it  is  understood. 

How  far  the  teacher  should  go  in  questioning  on  the 

meaning  of  a  reading  lesson,  must  be  determined  at  the 
9 


102  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

time  upon  the  spot.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  determine  the  ques- 
tion then  and  there.  If  questions  are  unduly  multiplied 
the  exercise  is  slow  and  tedious,  and  pupils  are  discour- 
aged ;  they  think  the  teacher  does  not  give  them  credit 
for  knowing  anything.  On  the  other  hand,  if  too  few  are 
asked,  the  lesson  will  not  be  understood.  It  is  not  always 
the  case  that  the  commonest  things  are  the  things  that 
the  child  understands  the  best.  Pupils  can  be  found  who 
can  explain  "  the  curfew  tolls  "  of  Gray's  Elegy,  who  can 
not  explain  the  line — 

"  The  lowing  herd  winds  slowly  o'er  the  lea." 

I  have  found  pupils  reading  The  Village  Blacksmith  who 
had  no  idea  what  the  word  "  smithy  "  means.  In  this  re- 
gard the  environment  and  reading  of  the  pupil  are  of 
course  prime  factors.  Children  sometimes  show  great 
unconscious  ingenuity  in  answering  questions.  A  pupil 
of  my  acquaintance  explained  the  line, 

"  Once  again  his  horn  he  wound," 

to  mean  that  the  possessor  of  the  horn  wrapped  it  round 
with  yarn.  I  have  been  told  by  three  schoolboys  in  suc- 
cession, eleven  years  of  age,  that  the  firmament  is  a  place 
like  the  poorhouse,  that  it  is  green  pastures,  and  that  it 
is  old  cider.  The  mat  apropos  answers  to  questions  that 
constitute  the  material  of  Miss  Le  Eow's  well-known 
book,  English  as  She  is  Taught,  are  perfectly  character- 
istic of  children,  and  they  teach  two  important  lessons. 
Many  of  these  answers  are  naturally  incident  to  immature 
minds,  and  must  be  corrected  by  time  and  experience ; 
but  others  flow  from  bad  teaching.  Teachers  have  as- 
sumed that  their  pupils  understand  what  they  do  not  un- 
derstand, and  so  have  withheld  their  instruction,  or  they 
have  not  been  clear  in  their  instruction.  Every  person 
who  is  accustomed  carefully  to  examine  the  contents  of 


TEACHING  HEADING  AS  THOUGHT.  103 

pupils'  minds  knows  how  meagre,  how  incomplete,  how 
confused  their  ideas  are.  In  large  measure  children  must 
grow  out  of  their  imperfect  knowledge,  and  can  not  be 
taught  out  of  it.  Clearness  and  fulness  are  relative 
terms. 

One  important  caution  must  be  added.  To  take 
up  so  much  time  in  preparing  to  read  that  little  or  no 
reading  is  done,  is  a  fatal  mistake,  and  one  easily  and 
often  committed.  There  must  be  reading,  and  plenty 
of  it. 

Incidentally  school  readers  have  been  mentioned  more 
than  once  in  these  pages.  We  may  recur  to  them  in  this 
place,  for  they  are  immediately  connected  both  with  teach- 
ing reading  and  teaching  literature. 

One  point  to  be  guarded  in  the  compilation  of  a  series 
of  school  readers,  and  particularly  those  for  the  more  ad- 
vanced grades,  is  the  length  and  unity  of  the  lessons,  and 
another  the  literary  quality  of  the  lessons.  Touching  the 
first  of  these  questions,  again,  two  things  should  be  said. 
One  is  that  the  practice  .of  introducing  masterpieces  into 
the  schools  is  a  good  one.  The  benefit  attending  the 
reading  of  whole  compositions,  and  especially  composi- 
tions of  considerable  length,  is  unmistakable.  In  this 
way  the  mind  acquires  a  discipline  in  dealing  with  large 
subjects,  in  mastering  the  connections  of  thought,  in  see- 
ing the  bearings  of  things  and  the  dependency  of  parts, 
which  it  can  never  gain  from  short  or  fragmentary  compo- 
sitions. Still,  due  preparation  for  this  work  must  be  first 
made.  Short  compositions  must  come  before  long  ones. 
And,  most  fortunately,  there  is  plenty  of  admirable  mate- 
rial for  the  purpose.  There  are  single  poems  and  prose 
lessons,  units  in  themselves,  masterpieces  in  a  word,  which 
are  as  complete  and  perfect  of  their  kind  as  the  longer 
masterpieces  of  the  language.     Moreover,  plenty  of  ma- 


104:  TEACHING  TIIE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

terial  can  be  found  in  longer  works ;  that  is,  complete 
poems  and  prose  exercises,  marked  by  perfect  unity  and 
artistic  perfection  in  themselves,  can  be  found  in  the 
pages  of  all  the  great  masters  of  verse  and  prose.  Take, 
for  example,  one  of  Scott's  metrical  romances  or  one 
of  Shakespeare's  plays.  There  will  then  always  be  need  of 
collections  of  such  material,  selected  and  arranged  with 
reference  to  the  needs  of  the  child  and  of  the  school. 
While  we  welcome  the  large  use  that  teachers  are  com- 
ing to  make  of  the  masterpiece,  we  need  have  no  fear 
or  hope  that  it  is  going  to  put  the  readers  out  of  the 
schoolhouse. 

The  other  point  is  that  to  compile  good  school  readers 
requires  peculiar  taste  and  judgment,  as  well  as  practical 
knowledge  of  the  necessities  of  the  school.  The  English 
Conference  before  mentioned  made  these  sound  recommen- 
dations, which  are,  however,  of  wider  scope  than  the  topic 
immediately  before  us  :  That  reading  books  should  be 
of  a  literary  character ;  that  in  teaching  reading  no  at- 
tempt should  be  made  to  teach  physics,  science,  or  natural 
history  ;  and  that  sentimental  poetry  should  be  lightly 
drawn  upon.  School  readers  should  touch  all  the  main 
sources  of  the  mental  life,  and  should  furnish  a  good  in- 
troduction to  English  literature  ;  and  that  they  may  do 
this,  they  must  be  mainly  drawn  from  the  literature  of 
power  rather  than  the  literature  of  knowledge.*  Many 
subjects  important  in  themselves  are  unsuitable  for  school 
readers,  because  they  do  not  admit  of  literary  treatment. 
No  one  would  think  of  cutting  a  reading  lesson  out  of  a 
mathematical  text-book  or  a  scientific  treatise.     In  fact, 

*  "  The  function  of  the  first  [the  literature  of  knowledge]  is  to 
teach  ;  the  function  of  the  second  is  to  move ;  the  first  is  a  rudder, 
the  second  an  oar  or  a  sail." — (De  Quincey  :  Alexander  Pope.) 


TEACHING   READING   AS  THOUGHT.  105 

it  is  only  when  a  writer  on  science  turns  aside  from  his 
subject  proper  and  seizes  its  literary  elements,  as  its  de- 
scriptive or  poetical  phases  in  their  peculiar  relations  to 
his  own  mind,  that  he  can  be  said  to  produce  literature 
at  all.  No  discredit  is  hereby  cast  upon  books  of  infor- 
mation or  books  of  science  ;  they  are  invaluable  both  in 
school  and  in  home,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  use  them  as 
school  readers.  The  geographical  readers,  natural  history 
readers,  and  the  like  can  be  successfully  used  only  in  a 
supplementary  capacity,  subordinate  both  to  the  special 
subject  and  to  reading.  Of  all  special  subjects,  history 
no  doubt  furnishes  the  best  material  for  such  a  purpose, 
because  it  is  so  rich  in  human  interest.  Having  first  re- 
marked that  in  early  childhood  "  the  normal  condition  of 
life  is  a  sensitive  imagination,  curious,  wondering,  reach- 
ing out  to  the  unknown,  building  busily  fabrics,  often 
of  strange  form,  out  of  the  material  cast  in  its  way," 
and  that  in  school  parlance  reading  is  the  term  applied 
to  an  exercise  which  is  an  end  in  itself,  Mr.  Scudder 
says :  "  Give  to  the  child  as  soon  as  he  is  master  of  the 
rudiments  of  reading  some  form  of  great  imaginative 
literature,  and  continue,  year  after  year,  to  set  large  works 
before  him,  until  he  has  completed  his  school  course." 
This  he  calls  "  the  educational  law  of  reading,"  which  he 
again  states  in  this  form  :  "  I  repeat  that  the  educational 
law  of  reading  lies  in  a  steady  presentation  to  the  grow- 
in  <r  mind  of  those  works  of  art  in  literature  which  are  the 
glory  of  the  nation,  of  the  race,  and  have  an  undying 
power  to  feed  the  imagination."  *  Professor  Charles  Eliot 
Norton  also  contends  earnestly  that  reading  books,  all  of 
them,  should  be  made  up  of  pure  literature ;  and,  agree- 
ably with  this  view,  he  introduces  into  the  first  book  of 

*  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1894,  pp.  255,  256. 


106  TEACIIING    THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

the  series  of  readers  that  he  has  edited  a  large  part  of 
Mother  Goose.* 

The  school  reader  has  been  called  the  "  walking-beam 
of  the  school."  Besides  being  a  practice  book  for  teach- 
ing an  art,  and  an  anthology  of  English  literature,  it  fur- 
nishes motive  power  for  all  the  school  studies,  and  partic- 
ularly for  those  that  are  taught  from  books.  Moreover, 
it  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  call  it  "  the  walking- 
beam  "  of  the  intellectual  life.  It  is  therefore  to  be  re- 
gretted that  there  should  be  room  for  question  as  to  the 
character  of  the  great  series  of  readers  that  are  used  in 
the  schools.  It  is  not  difficult  to  find  critics  who  hold 
that,  in  this  respect,  we  have  lost  ground  within  the  last 
twenty-five  years.  Lindley  Murray's  English  Reader 
served  its  purpose,  and  passed  out  of  use  ;  no  wise  man 
would  attempt  to  bring  it  back  to  the  home  and  the 
school  ;  but  it  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  old 
Grammarian  that  his  book  contributed  to  form  the  minds 
of  successive  generations  of  readers,  many  of  whom  in 
correctness  of  literary  taste  and  appreciation  need  not  fear 
comparison  with  any  of  the  better-schooled  youth  of  our 
own  times. 

This  chapter  relates  to  reading  as  thought.  Moreover, 
this  book  deals  with  the  thought  side  of  reading  rather 
than  the  mechanical-mental  side.  This  is  not  because 
the  mechanical-mental  side  is  unimportant  and  does  not 
need  careful  attention.  School  children  are  not  going  to 
pick  up  the  technical  elements  of  reading  or  acquire  vocal 
facility  unconsciously.  Some,  no  doubt,  will  do  so.  The 
majority,  however,  must  be  taught  to  read  by  a  teacher 
who  understands  that  the  mechanical  parts  of  the  art  are 
second  only  to  the  spiritual  parts.     The  old  word  "  drill," 

*  See  the  preface  to  the  Heart  of  Oak  Books,  Second  Book. 


TEACHING   READING   AS  THOUGHT.  107 

which  is  now  so  much  out  of  fashion,  has  its  place,  for  the 
organs  of  speech  will  not,  without  conscious  effort,  become 
accustomed  to  those  co-ordinations  among  themselves  that 
are  needed  in  reading,  or  become  co-ordinated  to  the 
mind,  without  appropriate  exercises.  Accordingly,  from 
the  beginning  the  vocal  or  elocutionary  elements  demand 
constant  attention.  Here  everything  depends  on  habit. 
Distinct  articulation  and  due  deliberation  in  utterance 
make  reading  intelligible ;  the  one  guards  against  indis- 
tinctness, and  the  other  against  the  confusion  that  arises 
from  too  great  rapidity.  Emphasis  brings  out  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  words.  In  reading,  pronunciation 
must  be  watched  as  carefully  as  grammatical  forms  are  in 
conversation  and  language  lessons.  At  the  same  time, 
the  teacher  of  reading  must  cultivate  spontaneity  in  the 
pupil.  Freedom  is  all-essential.  The  function  of  criti- 
cism will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  chapter  later  on ;  here, 
however,  it  is  necessary  to  say  that,  when  the  class  has 
prepared  the  lesson,  either  with  or  without  the  teacher's 
assistance,  and  they  come  to  read,  they  should  be  left  to 
read  freely  without  interruption.  In  this  way  only  can 
they  put  themselves  into  the  work,  which  is  so  essential  to 
good  reading.  •  And  this  is  another  argument  for  thorough 
preparation  ;  without  it  the  pupil  can  not  be  master  either 
of  the  subject  or  of  himself.  In  the  primary  class  the 
mechanical  part  of  reading  comes  first,  in  the  advanced 
class  last. 

Two  short  exercises  will  illustrate  what  has  been  said 
in  regard  to  questioning  on  reading  lessons. 


108  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

» 

I. 

Sunset  on  the  Border, 
i. 

Day  set  on  Norham's  castled  steep, 
And  Tweed's  fair  river,  broad  and  deep, 

And  Cheviot's  mountains  lone : 
The  battled  towers,  the  donjon  keep, 
The  loophole  grates  where  captives  weep, 
The  flanking  walls  that  round  it  sweep, 

In  yellow  lustre  shone. 

II. 

The  warriors  on  the  turrets  high, 
Moving  athwart  the  evening  sky, 

Seemed  forms  of  giant  height : 
Their  armour,  as  it  caught  the  rays, 
Flashed  back  again  the  western  blaze 

In  lines  of  dazzling  light. 

III. 

St.  George's  banner,  broad  and  gay, 
Now  faded,  as  the  fading  ray 

Less  bright,  and  less,  was  flung; 
The  evening  gale  had  scarce  the  power 
To  wave  it  on  the  donjon  tower, 

So  heavily  it  hung. 

Name  the  writer  of  these  stanzas  and  the  poem  from 
which  they  are  taken.  Generally  speaking,  in  what  di- 
rection does  the  Tweed  flow?  Into  what  body  of  water 
does  it  empty?  Why  is  it  so  celebrated  in  song,  story, 
and  history?  Name  the  countries  on  either  side.  On 
which  side  is  Norham  ?  Is  there  anything  in  the  stanzas 
that  enables  us  certainly  to  tell?  What  bearing,  if  any, 
has  the  banner  on  this  question  ?  On  which  side  of  the 
river  are  the   Cheviots?     In   prose   construction,  would 


TEACHING  READING  AS  THOUGHT.  109 

Norham  and  Tweed  be  in  the  possessive  case  ?  Explain 
the  expressions  "  castled  steep  "  and  "  the  donjon  keep." 
Explain  also  line  five  of  the  first  stanza.  For  what  noun 
does  "  it,"  line  six,  stand  ?  What  are  flanking  walls  and 
turrets  ?  Describe  the  armour  that  the  soldiers  wore.  In 
what  direction  were  the  rays  flashed  back  ?  Why  did  the 
warriors  on  the  turret  seem  giants? 

The  stanzas  having  been  well  sifted  by  such  questions 
as  these,  the  teacher  may  continue  :  "  Now  we  will  go 
through  the  lines  and  build  up  the  picture.  First,  put  in 
the  river,  broad,  fair,  and  deep,  and  the  lone  mountains ; 
then  the  castle  crowning  the  steep,  with  its  battled  towers, 
its  donjon  keep,  and  flanking  walls  sweeping  around  the 
keep,  and  the  captives  weeping  at  the  grated  windows — 
the  whole  shining  with  the  golden  lustre  of  the  closing 
day.  Put  the  warriors  on  the  high  towers,  moving  back 
and  forth  before  the  evening  sky,  their  burnished  armour 
reflecting  the  blaze  of  the  setting  sun.  Over  the  donjon 
fling  out  the  banner,  broad,  gay,  and  faded,  hanging 
heavily  in  the  evening  breeze." 

The  great  point  in  such  exercises  is  not  so  much  to 
call  out  or  to  impart  definite  information  on  particular 
points  as  it  is  to  stimulate  the  imagination — to  develop 
the  whole  scene  from  the  words.  In  framing  questions 
care  should  bo  taken  to  change  somewhat  the  words  of 
the  text,  or  to  throw  them  into  a  new  order.  Words  and 
forms  of  expression  tend  to  become  crusted  over,  and  it 
is  necessary  to  break  up  the  crust. 

The  last  thing  to  be  done  is  to  read  the  stanzas  in  a 
manner  that  will  give  the  natural  colour  and  life  to  the 
whole.  And  here  it  may  be  remarked  that  what  Socrates 
says  to  Ion  of  the  rhapsode  is  equally  true  of  the  reader. 
"  And  no  man  can  be  a  rhapsode  who  does  not  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  poet.     For  the  rhapsode  ought  to  in- 


HO  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

terpret  the  mind  of  the  poet  to  his  hearers,  and  how  can 
he  interpret  him  well  unless  he  knows  what  he  means  ?  " 

II. 

Lines  from  Lowell's  Poem  on  the  Graves  of  Two 
English  Soldiers  on  Concord  Battle  Ground. 

1.  These  men  were  brave  enough,  and  true 

2.  To  the  hired  soldier's  bulldog  creed  ; 

3.  What  brought  them  here  they  never  knew, 

4.  They  fought  as  suits  the  English  breed : 

5.  They  came  three  thousand  miles,  and  died, 

6.  To  keep  the  Past  upon  its  throne ; 

7.  Unheard  beyond  the  ocean  tide, 

8.  Their  English  mother  made  her  moan. 

9.  The  turf  that  covers  them  no  thrill 

10.  Sends  up  to  fire  the  heart  and  brain ; 

11.  No  stronger  purpose  nerves  the  will, 

12.  No  hope  renews  its  youth  again : 

13.  From  farm  to  farm  the  Concord  glides, 

14.  And  trails  my  fancy  with  its  flow ; 

15.  O'erhead  the  balanced  hen-hawk  slides, 

16.  Twinned  in  the  river's  heaven  below. 

17.  But  go,  whose  Bay  State  bosom  stirs, 

18.  Proud  of  thy  birth  and  neighbour's  right, 

19.  Where  sleep  the  heroic  villagers 

20.  Borne  red  and  stiff  from  Concord  fight ; 

21.  Thought  Reuben,  snatching  down  his  gun, 

22.  Or  Seth,  as  ebbed  the  life  away, 

23.  What  earthquake  rifts  would  shoot  and  run 

24.  World-wide  from  that  short  April  fray  ? 

Such  questions  as  the  following  will  naturally  occur  to 
the  intelligent  teacher  who  reads  carefully  the  foregoing 
lines : — 

2.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  hired  soldier  and  any  other 
soldier  %  Does  the  word  "  hired  "  always  mean  what  it  here  means  f 
What  do  you  understand  by  a  bulldog  creed  % 


TEACHING  READING  AS  THOUGHT.     1Q 

3.  What  did  bring  the  two  soldiers  to  Concord? 

4.  How  does  it  suit  the  English  breed  to  fight  ? 

6.  What  is  meant  by  "keeping  the  Past  upon  its  throne"?  How 
did  the  death  of  the  two  men  contribute  to  that  end  ? 

8.  Explain  this  line. 

9-12.  Explain  these  lines,  and  name  the  leading  nouns  and  verbs. 

13-16.  What  connection  have  these  lines  with  the  four  preced- 
ing and  the  four  succeeding  ones  ?  Why  has  the  poet  introduced 
them  ?  Would  you  say  the  Mississippi  "  glides,"  or  the  Niagara  ? 
Explain  "  the  balanced  hen-hawk  slides,"  "  twinned,"  and  "  river's 
heaven." 

17.  What  is  the  antecedent  of  "whose"?  What  is  the  force  of 
"but"? 

18.  Why  has  the  poet  connected  "birth"  and  "neighbour's 
right "  ? 

19.  20.  Where  are  these  villagers  to  be  found  ? 
21,  22.  Name  the  subject  of  "  thought." 

23,  24.  Explain  these  lines. 

In  Chapter  VII  something  was  said  about  the  ethical  value  of 
lessons  in  the  lower  grades.  Such  value  should  never  be  lost  sight 
of  throughout  the  school  course.  History  and  literature  are  the 
school  studies  that  are  richest  in  such  value,  and  they  must  be  the 
great  reliance  of  the  teacher  in  promoting  the  ethical  culture  of  his 
pupils.  Still,  the  ethical  effect  of  these  studies  should  be  felt  indi- 
rectly rather  than  directly.  Dr.  Harris  has  wisely  said :  "  There  is 
an  ethical  and  an  aesthetical  content  to  each  work  of  art.  It  is 
profitable  to  point  out  both  of  these  in  the  interest  of  the  child's 
growing  insight  into  human  nature.  The  ethical  should,  however, 
be  kept  in  subordination  to  the  aesthetical,  but  for  the  sake  of  the 
supreme  interests  of  the  ethical  itself.  Otherwise  the  study  of  a 
work  of  art  degenerates  into  a  goody-goody  performance,  and  its 
effects  on  the  child  are  to  cause  a  reaction  against  the  moral.  The 
child  protects  his  inner  individuality  against  effacement  through 
external  authority  by  taking  an  attitude  of  rebellion  against  stories 
with  an  appended  moral.  Herein  the  superiority  of  the  aesthetical 
in  literary  art  is  to  be  seen."  * 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  on  Correlation  of  Studies. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TEACHING   COMPOSITION. 

Formerly  the  compositions  in  schools  where  they 
were  required  filled  the  pupils  with  more  fear  and  trem- 
bling than  any  other  exercise.  "  Composition  day  "  was 
the  black  day  of  the  week  or  month.  For  this  there  were 
several  reasons.  Most  persons  feel  shy  and  timid  when 
called  upon  to  write  compositions  that  they  are  to  read  in 
public,  and  especially  the  young  and  inexperienced.  Then 
in  the  old  elementary  schools  pupils  rarely  received  any  prep- 
aration for  essay-writing.  They  knew  nothing  of  language 
lessons,  and  written  work  of  any  kind  was  not  required. 
They  were  rather  left  until  they  reached  the  upper  grades 
of  the  elementary  school,  or  perhaps  the  high  school  or 
academy,  when  they  were  suddenly  called  upon  to  produce 
the  dreaded  "  composition."  The  call  made,  they  were 
generally  left  to  choose  their  own  themes,  to  gather  their 
own  materials,  to  make  their  own  outlines,  and  to  write 
their  own  essays — all  with  little  or  no  help.  The  only 
criticism  was  a  few  verbal  corrections  written  on  the  paper, 
which  half  the  time  the  pupils  did  not  understand.  Some 
of  the  more  inventive  or  facile  of  them,  by  sheer  dint 
of  effort,  struggled  on  and  became  good  writers,  but  the 
majority  found  little  benefit  in  writing  their  compositions. 
It  was  a  regime  that  needed  to  be  changed  in  every 
particular,   and   that    has   been   so   changed   in    all   the 

112 


TEACHING  COMPOSITION.  113 

best  schools.  Still,  the  subject  is  often  badly  handled 
at  the  present  time,  and  it  yet  needs  much  careful  dis- 
cussion. 

In  the  broadest  sense  composition  is  the  expression  of 
thought  by  means  of  language.  It  involves  invention  and 
style ;  or,  first,  the  provision  of  ideas,  and,  second,  their 
arrangement  and  utterance  in  sentences  and  paragraphs. 
Properly  it  includes  the  oral  expression  of  thought  as  well 
as  its  written  expression,  but  usage  has  confined  the  word 
practically  to  writing. 

Composition  follows  reading  in  the  order  of  the  school, 
as  reading  follows  speech  in  the  order  of  life.  It  rests  on 
the  same  fundamental  principle  as  the  other  language- 
arts.  As  the  child  learns  to  talk  by  talking  and  to  read 
by  reading,  so  he  learns  to  write  by  writing.  According- 
ly, power  of  utterance  is  the  first  desideratum.  Fluency 
must  be  sought  for  before  correctness  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  teacher  must  have  freedom  and  spontaneity  in  view. 
While  it  is  true  that  to  write  good  sentences  is  more  me- 
chanical than  to  speak  or  read  them,  at  the  same  time 
we  must  rely  upon  use  and  wont  rather  than  precepts. 
Formal  grammar  and  rhetoric  should  play  no  part  in  the 
early  stages  of  composition  teaching. 

Obviously  composition  stands  to  language  lessons  in 
the  same  relation  that  the  study  of  literature  stands  to 
reading  lessons.  It  is  a  more  advanced  stage  of  progress. 
What  has  been  said  therefore  of  teaching  those  lessons,  in 
previous  chapters,  is,  for  the  most  part,  equally  true  and 
valuable  in  the  present  chapter.  In  fact,  the  two  exer- 
cises are  so  much  alike  that  it  is  impossible  to  write  in- 
telligently about  one  without  touching  on  the  other.  All 
the  exercises  that  are  grouped  around  the  reading  lesson 
should  contribute  to  the  composition  lesson.  Telling 
stories,   conversation,   reading,   whether  silent  or   aloud, 


114:  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

recitations,  oral  narratives — all  tend  to  swell  at  once  the 
volume  of  the  pupil's  thought  and  of  his  vocabulary. 
Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  the  exercises  of  the 
school.  Whatever  adds  to  the  pupil's  store  of  facts  and 
ideas,  enhances  his  power  to  think,  and  augments  his  lin- 
guistic resources,  will  minister  to  the  art  of  expressing 
himself  in  written  words.  Still,  the  help  that  comes  from 
these  sources  is  not  sufficient.  No  matter  how  full  the 
mind  may  be,  and  how  fluent  the  expression,  the  com- 
position will  not  write  itself.  At  first  the  child  has  one 
single  lesson  that  sums  up  his  school  work,  viz.,  his  read- 
ing ;  but  as  lie  ascends  the  grades,  the  language-arts  begin 
to  diverge  more  and  more,  and  finally  become  distinct 
studies,  so  called.  Like  the  others,  composition  is  a  dis- 
tinct and  separate  art,  and  it  can  be  acquired  only  through 
the  use  of  its  own  distinctive  methods. 

To  adjust  one's  thought  and  utterance  to  the  stylus — 
to  co-ordinate  mind  and  pen — can  be  accomplished  only 
through  practice.  In  Kadestock's  words,  "Habit  must 
build  the  bridge,  uniting  theory  with  practice,  by  changing 
dead  knowledge  into  living  power."  There  are  good  think- 
ers who  are  neither  good  speakers  nor  good  writers,  but 
which  is  the  larger  class — the  good  speakers  who  are  poor 
writers  or  the  good  writers  who  are  good  speakers — it 
were  hard  to  say.  Ascham  says,  "  Ready  speakers  gener- 
ally be  not  the  best,  plainest,  and  wisest  writers,  nor  yet 
the  deepest  judges  in  weighty  matters,  because  they  do 
not  tarry  to  weigh  and  judge  of  things  as  they  ought,  but 
having  their  heads  overfull  of  matter  be  like  pens  over- 
full of  ink,  which  will  sooner  blot  than  make  any  fair 
letter  at  all."  One  thing  is  clear,  that  the  majority  of 
people  find  the  art  of  composition  a  difficult  one.  It  was 
said  of  a  great  oculist  that  he  spoiled  a  whole  hatful  of 
eyes  learning  to  operate  for  cataract,  and  it  is  probable 


TEACHING  COMPOSITION.  115 

that  most  good  writers  have  spoiled  as  many  reams  of 
paper  in  learning  to  write. 

How  far  excellence  in  writing  depends  npon  Nature, 
and  how  far  upon  practice,  is  an  old  question,  and  one 
about  which  men  are  never  likely  to  agree.  Professor 
Minto  has  stated  the  case  very  temperately,  as  follows : 

"  The  successful  practice  of  all  arts  must  depend  large- 
ly upon  natural  gifts.  In  writing,  as  in  other  arts,  rules 
do  not  carry  the  practitioner  far ;  rules  must  always  be 
for  the  most  part  negative,  and  a  man  may  have  the  com- 
pletest  knowledge  how  not  to  write  and  yet  dip  his  pen 
and  cudgel  his  brains  in  vain.  None  the  less  it  is  absurd 
to  suppose  that  in  writing,  which  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult of  the  arts,  a  man  has  nothing  to  learn,  nothing  to 
gain  by  study — that  he  has  only  to  know  his  subject  and 
the  words  will  come  of  themselves  in  the  best  possible 
choice  and  order."  * 

While  we  may  cheerfully  concede  that  the  great  writer, 
like  the  poet,  is  born  and  not  made,  we  need  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  ordinary  writer  is  made  and  not  born.  It 
is  a  matter  of  practice  rather  than  of  talent  or  genius. 
The  school  can  do  little  for  the  great  writer,  and  he  may 
safely  be  left  to  shift  for  himself,  but  it  can  do  much  for 
the  ordinary  one.  Still  more,  the  practice  must  run  along 
the  line  of  examples  rather  than  of  precepts.  Roger 
Ascham  said  very  aptly :  "  And  surely  one  example  is  more 
valuable,  both  to  good  and  ill,  than  twenty  precepts  writ- 
ten in  books.  And  so  Plato,  not  in  one  or  two,  but  in 
divers  places  doth  plainly  teach."  Quintilian  declares  that 
without  the  assistance  of  Nature  precepts  and  treatises  are 
of  no  avail.  His  treatise,  he  says,  was  not  written  for  him 
to  whom  talents  are  wanting  any  more  than  treatises  on 

*  Plain  Principles  of  Prose  Composition,  p.  8. 


116  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

agriculture  are  written  for  barren  ground.  And  still  he 
closes  his  introduction,  from  which  this  illustration  is 
taken,  with  the  impressive  warning  :  "  These  very  quali- 
ties, likewise,  are  of  no  profit  in  themselves  without  a 
skilful  teacher,  persevering  study,  and  great  and  continued 
exercise  in  writing,  reading,  and  speaking." 

But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
main  efficacy  of  examples  or  models  is  conscious  imitation. 
As  a  man  unconsciously  takes  on  the  manners  and  habits  of 
the  society  in  the  midst  of  which  he  lives,  moves,  and  has 
his  being,  so  he  takes  on  the  manner  and  the  style  both  of 
the  thought  and  language  of  the  books  in  which  he 
becomes  deeply  interested.  The  fact  is,  that  intelligent 
minds  grow  up  in  a  literary  environment  that  impresses 
them  strongly.     As  Professor  Minto  says  again  : 

"  The  obvious  truth  is,  that  the  man  who  writes  well 
must  do  so  by  example,  if  not  by  precept.  In  any  lan- 
guage that  has  been  used  for  centuries  as  a  literary  instru- 
ment, the  beginner  can  not  begin  as  if  he  were  the  first  in 
the  field.  Whatever  he  purposes  to  write,  be  it  essay,  or 
sermon,  or  leading  article,  history,  or  fiction,  there  are 
hundreds  of  things  of  the  same  kind  in  existence,  some  of 
which  he  must  have  read  and  can  not  help  taking  more  or 
less  as  patterns.  The  various  forms  or  plans  of  composi- 
tion of  every  kind  have  been  gradually  developed  by  the 
practice  of  successive  generations.  If  a  man  writes  effect- 
ively without  giving  a  thought  to  the  manner  of  his  com- 
position, it  must  be  because  he  has  chanced  upon  good 
models,  and  not  merely  because  he  knows  his  subject  well, 
or  feels  it  deeply,  and  has  a  natural  gift  of  expression.  He 
can  spare  himself  the  trouble  of  thinking  because  his 
predecessors  have  thought  for  him  ;  he  is  rich  as  being 
the  possessor  of  inherited  wealth."  * 

*  Plain  Principles  of  Prose  Composition,  pp.  8,  9. 


TEACHING   COMPOSITION.  117 

Still,  we  can  not  trust  to  environment  alone.  There 
must  be  study  and  practice  and  earnest  striving  to  im- 
prove. The  following  directions  and  hints,  as  a  whole,  are 
given  for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher  rather  than  of  the 
pupil : — 

I.  Good  training  in  the  other  language-arts,  and  par- 
ticularly in  language  lessons,  should  prepare  the  way  for 
formal  composition.  It  will  rob  the  essay  of  half  its  ter- 
rors. Unfortunately,  the  teacher  on  going  into  the  school 
will  sometimes  find  that  such  preparation  has  not  been 
made.  Furthermore,  it  will  be  impracticable  to  put  the 
older  and  more  advanced  pupils  at  pure  language  work. 
What  shall  be  done  in  such  cases  ?  No  better  course  can 
be  taken  than  to  effect  a  compromise  between  what  should 
be  and  what  can  be,  adapting  the  work  to  the  pupil  the 
best  that  circumstances  will  permit. 

II.  In  composition  it  is  peculiarly  important  to  enlist 
the  interest  and  pleasure  of  the  pupil.  Mere  drill  is  use- 
ful in  some  studies,  as  in  mathematics,  but  it  will  accom- 
plish little  in  composition.  Essays  that  do  not  interest 
the  pupil  are  not  likely  to  interest  others. 

III.  The  choice  of  a  subject  is  of  importance.  The 
subject  determines  the  pupil's  source  of  matter,  and  matter 
and  style  can  not  be  separated.  If  he  has  an  abundance 
of  ideas  he  is  likely  to  express  himself  with  clearness 
and  force.  If  he  has  no  ideas,  or  few,  the  plight  of 
the  children  of  Israel  in  making  bricks  without  straw 
is  pleasant  in  comparison.  The  subject  should  inspire 
confidence  in  the  pupil,  not  be  a  load  for  him  to  carry. 
There  is  little  benefit  in  the  pupil's  laboriously  piecing 
together  facts  and  ideas  and  stamping  the  product  an 
"  essay." 

IV.  As  a  rule,  the  teacher  should  choose  and  assign 

the  subjects.    If  this  is  not  done,  the  pupil  is  likely  to  lose 
10 


118  TEACHING  TIIE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

innch  valuable  time  in  making  a  choice,  and  to  make  a  bad 
one  at  last.  It  is  important  to  help  the  pupil  over  the 
discouraging  beginning.  Many  persons  find  it  difficult  to 
make  a  start  who  write  well  when  once  the  start  is  made. 
Under  this  head  still  more  definite  hints  and  suggestions 
must  be  given : 

1.  The  teacher  should  not  throw  subjects  around  the 
class  at  random,  but,  as  far  as  possible,  consult  the  indi- 
vidual taste  and  capacity  of  pupils.  The  right  theme 
should  find  the  right  boy  or  girl.  Composition  should 
follow  and  not  precede  the  pupil's  interest.  The  teacher 
should  choose  the  line  of  least  resistance. 

2.  Avoid  abstract  and  general  themes  and  choose  those 
that  are  concrete  and  particular.  On  this  point  Mr.  Huff- 
cut  has  some  excellent  remarks. 

"Every  schoolboy  has  written  his  essay  on  the  vir- 
tues, and  every  schoolgirl  has  filled  her  allotted  number 
of  pages  with  vague  generalities  regarding  Sunshine  and 
Shadow.  Consign  all  such  subjects  to  the  limbo  of  Dr. 
Quackeubos's  Ehetoric.  If  you  doubt  that  that  is  the 
proper  place  for  them,  read  his  list  of  five  hundred  and 
sixty-six  subjects  for  essays,  among  which  one  finds  such 
as  Spring,  Peace,  War,  Death,  Life,  Anger,  Astronomy, 
Jealousy,  Conscience,  and  Law ;  Earth's  Benefactors,  The 
Stoic  Philosophy,  The  Comparative  Influence  of  Individ- 
uals and  Learned  Societies  in  Eorming  Literary  Character 
in  a  Nation ;  and,  finally,  as  if  neither  this  world  nor  the 
limits  of  time  could  confine  the  knowledge  and  imagina- 
tion of  a  schoolboy,  the  learned  doctor  seriously  announces 
as  a  suitable  subject  for  classroom  use  The  Immortality  of 
the  Soul.  We  can  not  avoid  a  little  disappointment  at 
not  finding  something  about  the  Kantian  Philosophy, 
Esoteric  Buddhism,  or  Transcendental  Physics  ;  but  per- 
haps these  omissions  are  compensated  for  by  the  inclu- 


TEACHING  COMPOSITION.  119 

sion  of  the  subjects,  Mesmerism,  Psychology,  and  Spir- 
itualism." * 

3.  In  the  elementary  school  "book  subjects"  should 
be  used  sparingly  ;  subjects  from  Nature  and  life  will  be 
found  more  real  and  interesting.  But,  care  must  be  taken 
not  to  vulgarize  the  mind  by  the  selection  of  vulgar  sub- 
jects. The  cyclopaedia  subject  is  vicious,  since  it  stimu- 
lates compilation  rather  than  observation  and  thinking, 
and  so  lacks  reality.  Still,  literature  is  a  proper  and  in- 
dispensable source  of  subjects  and  materials.  The  pupil 
who  is  old  enough  to  read  Ivanhoe  or  The  Lady  of  the 
Lake  may  write  out  the  action  of  the  novel  or  poem,  or  a 
part  of  it.  Shakespeare  may  be  used  to  excellent  advan- 
tage in  the  school.  For  younger  pupils  shorter  tales  or 
stories  will  answer  the  purpose.  Nor  do  I  mean  positively 
to  prohibit  the  cyclopaedia ;  it  may  be  used  to  much  ad- 
vantage in  a  tentative  form  of  research  work  ;  the  great 
point  is  to  make  the  essay  real  and  vital. 

4.  There  are  four  types  of  prose  composition  :  narra- 
tive, description,  exposition,  and  argumentation.  As  pure 
types  they  should  be  taught  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
here  enumerated.  The  bearing  of  this  point  on  the  selec- 
tion of  themes  is  obvious.  Narrative,  or  the  story  form, 
is  the  proper  one  for  young  children.  Description  should 
not  be  attempted  until  the  powers  of  observation  are 
somewhat  developed. 

5.  Progressively,  the  level  of  the  subjects,  as  well  as 
the  treatment  demanded,  should  be  raised.  In  particular, 
pupils  should  not,  to  the  end  of  their  school  life,  be  trust- 
ed only  with  particular  themes,  but  should  gradually  have 
their  faces  turned  toward  abstract  thought. 

V.  The  teacher  should  instruct  the  pupil  in  the  modus 

*  English  in  the  Preparatory  Schools,  pp.  15,  16. 


120  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

or  machinery  of  composition.  Pupils,  and  older  persons 
for  that  matter,  who  have  ideas  and  language,  often  fail 
in  composition  because  they  do  not  know  where  to  begin, 
how  to  proceed,  or  when  to  end.  In  a  word,  they  do  not 
know  how  to  organize  their  matter.  This  is  a  subject 
which  calls  for  much  careful  thought  on  the  teacher's 
part,  and  to  assist  the  teacher  these  more  definite  obser- 
vations are  submitted : 

1.  There  are  three  units  of  composition  :  the  sentence, 
the  paragraph,  and  the  essay.  Every  one  of  these  units  in 
itself  is  an  organic  whole.     Back  of  it  is  a  distinct  idea. 

A  sentence  is  the  proper  expression  in  words  of  one 
main  thought,  with  or  without  one  or  more  modifying 
thoughts.  It  is  not  any  string  of  words  that  may  be 
parsed,  or  that  even  makes  sense,  but  an  organization  of 
words  conveying  a  clear  and  separate  thought.  It  must 
contain  one  subject  and  one  predicate  at  least,  and  it 
may  contain  more  or  less  subsidiary  matter. 

A  paragraph  is  an  ordered  series  of  such  sentences 
that  together  present  one  phase  or  aspect  of  a  subject. 
It  is  a  fully  developed  thought.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a 
mere  series  of  sentences,  a  piece  or  section  of  a  composi- 
tion cut  off  at  random,  but  a  complete  organic  whole. 

An  essay  proper  is  a  series  of  paragraphs  that  deal 
with  the  whole  of  the  subject,  or  with  several  phases  of 
it,  duly  arranged  in  order.  It  is  not  a  piece  of  writing 
filling  so  many  pages,  or  occupying  so  much  time,  but  it 
is  a  thought-out  composition  having  a  beginning,  a  mid- 
dle, and  an  end. 

2.  By  the  time  that  he  has  reached  the  seventh  grade, 
at  least,  the  pupil  should  understand  the  function  of  every 
one  of  these  units.  Whether  he  can  define  them  or  not  is 
not  material.  The  teacher  can  readily  show  their  use  and 
relations  by  analyzing  with  the  class  a  number  of  suitable 


TEACHING   COMPOSITION.  121 

compositions.  Of  the  three  the  paragraph  will  give  the 
most  trouble.  This  is  partly  owing  to  the  caprice  with 
which  good  writers  sometimes  paragraph  their  work,  part- 
ly to  the  slight  attention  that  books  devoted  to  composi- 
tion and  rhetoric  give  to  the  subject,  and  partly  to  its  in- 
trinsic difficulty.  The  paragraph  stands  midway  between 
the  sentence  and  the  essay.  It  is  at  once  both  a  whole 
and  a  part.  It  rests,  however,  on  a  single  psychological 
conception.  "  In  all  our  voluntary  thinking,"  says  Pro- 
fessor James,  "  there  is  some  topic  or  subject  about  which 
all  the  members  of  the  thought  revolve,"  and  this  topic 
is  the  core  of  the  paragraph.  The  principal  trouble  iu 
handling  it  arises  from  the  tendency  of  the  revolving 
members  to  fly  off  and  attach  themselves  to  some  neigh- 
bouring centre  of  thought.  The  pupil  will  commit  many 
blunders,  and  can  attain  to  skill  only  through  much 
practice  ;  and  these  facts  are  reasons  why  his  attention 
should  be  directed  to  the  subject  almost  from  the  time 
that  he  begins  to  write.  Written  or  printed  matter  that 
is  divided  into  sections-  of  appropriate  length  looks  better 
on  the  page  than  matter  that  is  not  so  divided  ;  still,  the 
great  reason  for  paragraphing  is  psychological.  It  is 
needed  to  show  the  logical  relations  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  subject-matter. 

3.  The  sentence  is  the  ultimate  unit  of  all  speech  that 
expresses  thought.  Without  good  sentences  good  com- 
position is  impossible.  At  the  same  time  good  sentences 
do  not  insure  good  paragraphs  or  a  good  essay.  The  rela- 
tions of  the  sentences  are  hardly  less  important  than  the 
sentences  themselves.  Still,  the  sentence  is  the  beginning 
point.  In  order  to  write  good  sentences  the  writer  must 
see  clearly  the  subject,  the  predicate,  and  the  subsidiary 
matter.  Whether  he  knows  the  words  that  name  or  de- 
scribe these  elements  or  not,  is  of  little  practical  conse- 


122  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

quence.  And  further,  the  first  sentence  has  a  certain  rela- 
tion to  the  second  one,  the  second  to  the  third,  and  so  on. 
This  is  the  reason  why  it  would  be  very  inconsiderate  for 
a  writer  to  compose  his  sentences  as  he  might  discharge 
shots  from  a  pistol,  mechanically.  He  should  rather  seize 
the  whole  view  of  the  subject  that  forms  the  topic  of  the 
paragraph,  and  then  proceed  to  write  his  sentences.  It 
would  be  too  mechanical  for  him  to  count  out  in  advance 
these  sentences,  but  he  should  mentally  encompass  the 
ground  that  he  proposes  to  inclose  in  words.  In  this  way 
the  paragraph  reacts  most  decidedly  upon  the  sentences. 
In  a  previous  chapter  it  was  incidentally  remarked  that 
the  child's  first  essays  should  be  single  paragraphs.  In 
this  way  the  idea  of  the  paragraph  will  be  developed,  and 
also  skill  in  executing  it.  In  such  cases,  however,  it  is 
not  at  all  necessary  that  the  several  views  or  phases  of  the 
subject  should  be  sharply  discriminated.  The  paragraph 
essay  will  in  due  time  give  way  to  the  essay  proper. 

Dr.  Whately  has  remarked  that  copiousness  of  matter 
follows  from  the  limitation  of  the  view,  and  that  fact  is 
an  additional  reason  for  studying  the  paragraph.  "  The 
more  general  and  extensive  view,"  he  says,  "  will  often 
suggest  nothing  to  the  mind  but  vague  and  trite  remarks, 
when,  upon  narrowing  the  field  of  discussion,  many  inter- 
esting questions  of  detail  present  themselves."  *  While  a 
boy  of  fourteen  can  not  do  much  with  the  universe,  he  may 
fairly  be  expected  to  treat  adequately  some  very  small  part 
of  it.  A  pupil  of  mine  once  wrote  an  excellent  essay  on 
"  Washington  as  a  Farmer,"  who  would  probably  have 
written  an  indifferent  or  poor  one  on  "  Washington." 

VI.  What  has  been  said  under  the  last  division  in- 
volves the  making  of  outlines.     To  analyze  a  subject  is  to 

*  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  i,  1,  2. 


TEACHING   COMPOSITION.  123 

discover  the  phases  that  present  proper  subjects  for  para- 
graphs. Accordingly,  when  the  pupil  passes  from  the 
paragraph  essay  to  the  essay  proper,  the  teacher  must  give 
the  needed  attention  to  this  matter.  Some  subjects  he 
should  analyze  for  the  benefit  of  the  class,  outlining  them 
on  the  blackboard.  He  should  freely  discuss  plans  and 
outlines  with  the  pupil  privately.  Outlines  may  also  be 
required  of  the  pupil  that  he  is  not  expected  to  fill  out. 
If  a  pupil  merely  holds  a  subject  dangling  before  his  vision, 
or  causes  it  rapidly  to  revolve  like  a  thaumatrope,  he  will 
not  get  any  clear  view  of  it  either  in  part  or  in  whole ; 
when,  if  he  would  carefully  look  at  its  several  phases,  he 
would  immediately  discover  things  that  would  interest 
him.  Once  the  subject  has  been  chosen  and  the  plan 
agreed  upon,  the  remainder  of  the  road  is  commonly  easy. 
Of  course  when  book  subjects  are  assigned  the  teacher 
must  be  ready  to  furnish  titles  and  directions  for  reading. 

VII.  Rules  and  criticism.  While  the  function  of  criti- 
cism in  the  language-arts  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a 
separate  chapter,  two  or  three  observations  are  called  for 
here. 

One  is,  that  a  teacher  of  composition  must  not  be  too 
nice.  What  the  pupil  needs  is  writing,  and  plenty  of  it, 
and  the  teacher  must  not  unduly  repress  spontaneity. 
The  first  thing  is  to  get  the  stream  of  thought  to  flowing. 
Still,  grammatical  errors  and  vulgarisms  must  be  rigor- 
ously corrected  front  the  first.  Absurdity  of  matter  and 
infelicity  in  expression  must  be  left,  in  great  part,  for  the 
pruning  knife  of  time.  Another  thing  is  that  rules 
should  not  be  taught  as  formal  lessons,  but  should  be  in- 
troduced, when  introduced  at  all,  in  connection  with  criti- 
cism. As  Professor  Minto  says  in  the  passage  already 
quoted, "  Rules  must  always  be,  for  the  most  part,  negative." 
Again,  only  mechanical  rules  should  be  given ;  rules  that 


124  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

embody  psychological  laws  should  be  left  to  a  later  day. 
The  leading  rules  for  capitalization  and  punctuation 
should  be  taught  in  the  lower  grades.  Let  not  the 
teacher,  however,  be  too  minute  in  his  exactions,  particu- 
larly under  the  second  head.  Punctuation  is  an  art,  and 
a  very  delicate  one  at  that.  Finally,  the  teacher  should 
arrange  exercises  and  lessons  with  reference  to  pupils' 
mistakes,  as  in  capitalization  and  the  use  of  verbal  forms 
and  syntactical  constructions. 

One  very  important  point  should,  perhaps,  have  re- 
ceived earlier  mention,  viz.,  the  relation  of  thought-mate- 
rial to  thought-expression.  It  has  indeed  been  alluded  to 
in  the  remarks  concerning  the  assignment  of  subjects,  and 
again  in  the  quotation  from  Whately  regarding  copious- 
ness of  matter.  The  topic  brings  before  us  again,  at  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  the  education  of  the  child,  the 
relation  of  intellect  and  language.  From  the  very  nature 
of  this  relation,  it  follows  that  the  first  requisite  to  com- 
position is  to  have  something  to  say.  Composition  is 
a  real  and  not  a  formal  exercise ;  and  the  admonition  to 
"first  catch  the  hare?'  is  not  more  essential  to  cooking  a 
hare  than  the  admonition  to  attend  first  to  invention  is 
to  the  formation  of  good  style.  The  great  writers  of  the 
world  have  been  men  gifted  in  both  gathering  and  retain- 
ing the  materials  of  composition.  They  have  been  men 
of  observation,  of  insight,  of  reading,  of  reflection,  of 
capacious  and  retentive  memory,  of  two  or  more  of  these 
qualities,  as  well  as  of  creative  faculties.  The  powers  of 
creation  can  be  developed  only  on  a  basis  of  such  mate- 
rials. We  are  amazed  at  the  fertility  and  productivity  of 
mind  shown  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  when  at  the  maturity 
of  his  powers.  There  is  equal  reason  why  we  should  be 
amazed  by  the  omnivorous  reading,  the  wide  and  keen  ob- 
servation of  Nature  and  man,  and  the  thorough  research 


TEACHING   COMPOSITION.  125 

that  in  earlier  years  accumulated  the  materials  which  his 
imagination  afterward  worked  up  into  ballad,  poem,  and 
romance. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  plan  of  teaching  language  and 
composition  outlined  in  these  pages  does  not  contemplate 
the  use  by  the  pupil  of  the  current  books  on  those  sub- 
jects, or  indeed  of  any  books  at  all.  Such  helps  would  be 
useful  to  the  well-equipped  teacher;  to  the  ill-equipped 
one  they  would  be  invaluable ;  but  it  is  not  advisable  to 
put  them  into  the  hands  of  the  learner.  The  work  to  be 
done  is  not  the  learning  or  recitation  of  lessons,  but  rather 
the  practice  of  an  art  under  intelligent  guidance.  The 
formal  instruction  that  the  pupil  really  needs  should  be 
furnished  by  the  teacher.  To  set  the  pupil  at  work  at  a 
book  makes  the  work  artificial,  mechanical,  and  unreal. 
It  is  just  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to  give  him  a  book  of 
object-lessons. 

Much  is  now  said  about  conducting  teaching  on  the 
intensive  or  concentrative  plan.  The  idea  is  so  to  select 
and  combine  studies  that  one  will  help  another.  The  de- 
sirability of  pursuing  this  course  in  the  language-arts  has 
several  times  been  urged  in  preceding  chapters,  and  noth- 
ing more  needs  to  be  said  on  the  general  subject.  But  the 
question  sometimes  assumes  this  form  :  Shall  a  special 
teacher  of  English  be  employed  in  the  school  ?  In  oppo- 
sition to  an  exclusive  reliance  upon  such  a  teacher,  it 
has  been  urged  that,  in  the  period  of  life  when  imitation 
is  so  powerful,  the  child  should  be  kept  as  far  as  possible 
from  bad  models,  and  as  near  as  possible  to  good  models ; 
also  "  that  every  thought  which  he  expresses,  whether 
orally  or  on  paper,  should  be  regarded  as  a  proper  subject 
for  criticism  as  to  language.  Thus,  every  lesson  in  geog- 
raphy or  physics  or  mathematics  may  and  should  become 
a  part  of  the  child's  training  in  English."     "  There  can 


126  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

be  no  more  appropriate  moment  for  a  brief  lesson  in  ex- 
pression," it  is  said,  "  than  the  moment  when  the  pupil 
has  something  which  he  is  trying  to  express.  If  this 
principle  is  not  regarded,  a  recitation  in  history  or  in 
botany,  for  example,  may  easily  undo  all  that  a  set  exer- 
cise in  English  has  accomplished.  In  order  that  both 
teacher  and  pupil  may  attach  due  importance  to  this  inci- 
dental instruction  in  English,  the  pupil's  standing  in 
any  subject  should  depend  in  part  on  his  use  of  clear  and 
correct  English."  * 

While  the  general  tenor  of  this  teaching  is  sound,  it  is 
in  one  particular  carried  too  far.  If  the  pupil  is  allowed 
in  his  general  lessons  to  fall  into  slovenly  habits  of  expres- 
sion, the  good  work  of  formal  lessons  in  English  will  be 
undone;  what  is  woven  by  day  is  ravelled  out  at  night. 
But  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  say  that  there  can  be  no  more 
appropriate  moment  for  a  lesson  in  expression  than  the 
moment  when  the  pupil  has  something  which  he  is  trying 
to  say.  So  far  from  that,  this  is  the  very  moment  when 
he  should  be  left  free  and  untrammelled  to  express  what 
is  in  his  mind,  and  this  by  the  teacher  of  English  as  well 
as  by  the  teacher  of  grammar  or  physics.  It  is  the  mo- 
ment for  expression  and  not  for  a  lesson  in  expression. 
To  be  sure,  when  the  expression  has  been  given  as  freely 
and  fully  as  possible,  it  is  the  proper  subject  of  correction. 
That  must  be  a  question  of  judgment.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  however,  that  the  schools  are  now  suffering,  and 
suffering  severely,  from  failures  of  teachers  in  the  same 
school,  as  a  high  school,  to  co-operate  in  the  work  of 
teaching  English. 

Dr.  Franklin  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  way 
in  which  he  formed   his  style  of  composition,  which  is 


*  Report  of  Conference  on  English  to  the  Committee  of  Ten, 
p.  87.     Washington,  1892. 


TEACHING  COMPOSITION.  127 

certainly  clear,  direct,  and  forcible.*  This  account  hap- 
pily illustrates  what  may  be  called  the  study  of  literary 
mechanism  or  architecture.  While  such  study  is  ex- 
tremely useful  in  its  way,  it  must  not  be  misunderstood 
or  overvalued.  Neither  this  bit  of  history  nor  Dr.  John- 
son's recommendation  of  Addison  quoted  in  another  place 
must  be  taken  too  literally.  Conscious  imitation  of  style 
is  a  fatal  method  in  literature.  What  the  student  wants 
is  the  genius  or  spirit  of  his  model ;  and  the  best  way,  in 
fact  the  only  way,  to  secure  that  is  to  bring  himself  under 
the  power  of  the  model.  The  model  must  work  in  him 
as  a  force,  not  be  imposed  upon  him  as  a  rule  from  with- 
out. The  method  should  be  unconscious  imitation,  not 
conscious ;  dynamics,  not  statics.  The  first  new  sap  that 
circulates  through  the  branches  of  a  tree  in  springtime 
quickly  pushes  off  the  dead  leaves  that  have  defied  all  the 
storms  of  winter. 

Composition  is  a  noble  art,  the  value  of  which  is  not 
confined  within  narrow  limits.  It  is  rather  of  universal 
value.  In  school  it  directly  helps  the  work  in  all  the 
studies — in  chemistry,  physics,  and  mathematics,  as  well 
as  in  historv  and  literature.  In  real  life  the  art  stands 
the  professional  man  in  good  stead,  as  well  as  the  man  of 
letters.  Ability  to  express  one's  thoughts  clearly,  forcibly, 
and  with  a  degree  of  elegance — that  is,  ability  to  write 
good  Euglish — is  perhaps  the  highest  test  of  mental  culti- 
vation. It  is  the  slow-maturing  fruit  of  real  culture. 
Practice  in  the  art  should  begin  low  down  in  the  grades, 
and  should  continue,  if  possible,  to  the  end  of  the  college 
course.  If  this  be  impossible,  as  sometimes  unfortunately 
it  is,  reasonable  pains  should  be  taken  to  create  an  interest 
in  the  work  and  an  enthusiasm  for  it,  while  it  is  a  subject 
for  instruction,  that  will  last  the  pupil  through  life. 

*  See  his  Autobiography,  Bigelow's  edition,  pp.  95,  96. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

TEACHING    ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

In"  preceding  chapters  many  remarks  have  been  made 
that  bear  on  teaching  English  literature.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  to  supplement  these  remarks,  which  have  been 
incidental  in  character,  with  a  formal  chapter  on  the 
subject. 

The  first  thing  for  the  teacher  of  literature  to  settle 
in  his  mind,  and  the  most  important,  is  the  object  or  aim 
to  be  held  in  view.  Why  should  literature  be  taught  in 
the  schools  of  the  country  ?  What  is  it  to  teach  literature  ? 
What  is  taught  when  literature,  as  such,  is  taught?  What 
is  literature  ?  Clear  answers  to  these  questions  are  the 
more  necessary,  for  the  reason  that  quite  different  things 
are  taught  as  literature  in  the  schools.  Manifestly,  too, 
we  can  not  answer  them  without  grasping  the  elements 
that  enter  into  the  conception  of  literature.  These  ele- 
ments, as  I  view  it,  are  correctly  stated  by  Mr.  Quick  in 
his  Educational  Reformers. 

"  When  the  conceptions  of  an  individual  mind  are  ex- 
pressed in  a  permanent  form  of  words,  we  get  literature. 
The  sum  total  of  all  the  permanent  forms  of  expression  in 
one  language  make  up  the  literature  of  that  language ; 
and  if  no  one  has  given  his  conceptions  a  form  which  has 
been  preserved,  the  language  is  without  a  literature. 
There  are,  then,  two  things  essential  to  a  literary  work  : 
first,  the  conceptions  of  an  individual  mind;  second,  a 

128 


TEACHING  ENGLISH    LITERATURE.  129 

permanent  form  of  expression.  Hence  it  follows  that  the 
domain  of  literature  is  distinct  from  the  domain  of  natural 
or  mathematical  science.  Science  does  not  give  us  the 
conceptions  of  an  individual  mind,  but  it  tells  us  what 
every  rational  person  who  studies  the  subject  must  think. 
And  science  is  entirely  independent  of  any  form  of  words  : 
a  proposition  of  Euclid  is  science ;  a  sonnet  of  Words- 
worth's is  literature.  We  learn  from  Euclid  certain 
truths  which  we  should  have  learnt  from  some  one  else 
if  Euclid  had  never  existed,  and  the  propositions  may  be 
conveyed  equally  well  in  different  forms  of  words  and  in 
any  language.  But  a  sonnet  of  Wordsworth's  conveys 
thought  and  feeling  peculiar  to  the  poet ;  and  even  if  the 
same  thought  and  feeling  were  conveyed  to  us  in  other 
words,  we  should  lose  at  least  half  of  what  he  has  given 
us.  Poetry  is  indeed  only  one  kind  of  literature,  but  it  is 
the  highest  kind ;  and  what  is  true  of  literary  works  in 
verse  is  true  also  in  a  measure  of  literary  works  in  prose. 
.  .  .  There  are  two  ways  in  which  a  work  of  literature 
may  excite  our  admiration  and  affect  our  minds.  These 
are,  first,  by  the  beauty  of  the  conceptions  it  conveys  to 
us;  and,  second,  by  the  beauty  of  the  language  in  which 
it  conveys  them.  In  the  greatest  works  the  two  excel- 
lences will  be  combined."  * 

Literary  taste  relates  especially  to  the  second  of  these 
elements,  beauty  of  expression.  Reverting  to  Professor 
Laurie's  analysis  of  language,  we  see  that  literature  em- 
braces the  first  and  last  of  the  three  elements.  It  is  a 
real  study  and  an  aesthetic  study.  Fundamentally,  the 
object  of  teaching  literature  is  the  same  as  the  object  of 
teaching  reading  as  thought ;  the  main  difference  between 


*  Pp.  5,  6.    See  also  J.  II.  Newman,  University  Subjects,  Lit- 
erature. 


130  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

the  reading  of  the  primary  grades  and  the  literature  of 
the  high  school  or  the  college  being  one  of  degree  and 
not  of  kind.  And  this  brings  us  back  to  the  old  idea, 
that  the  art  of  reading  is  only  a  tool  with  which  to  ac- 
quire the  wealth  of  knowledge,  thought,  and  beauty  with 
which  books  are  stored.  To  convey  meaning  is  the  great 
function  of  language  ;  but  literature  has  also  a  message 
of  grace  and  beauty  for  the  soul,  which  is  partly  in  the 
thought  itself  and  partly  in  the  expression  of  the  thought. 
Gray's  Elegy,  for  instance,  pleases  not  so  much  by  its 
ideas  as  by  the  setting  and  expression  of  the  ideas.  The 
stanza  beginning 

"  Can  storied  urn  or  animated  bust," 
translated  into  ordinary  prose,  is  commonplace  enough. 
Great  literature,  prose  or  poetry,  and  especially  of  the 
creative  order,  is  rich  in  this  ideal  and  aesthetic  element. 
It  is  not  something  separate  and  apart  from  the  real  ele- 
ment, but  is  bound  up  with  it,  and  can  not  be  separated 
from  it.  Good  style  goes  with  subject-matter.  "  Style 
is  not  to  be  compared,"  it  has  been  said,  "  to  the  vesture 
which  covers  a  man's  body,  but  rather  to  the  native  and 
natural  covering  of  the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  play  and 
elasticity  of  the  close-fitting  lion's  hide  is  very  different 
from  any  vestment  with  which  the  fashionable  tailor  cov- 
ers the  lion's  master." 

We  may  say,  then,  that  in  teaching  literature  the  real 
element  and  the  ideal  element — the  substance  and  the  art — 
must  be  held  together.  Still,  the  major  stress  should  be 
placed  on  thought  or  substance.  What  follows  when  men 
sink  meaning  in  words  has  been  amply  illustrated  in  two 
great  periods  of  intellectual  history — first,  in  the  decline 
of  Grecian  literature,  and  secondly  in  the  decline  of  the 
Renaissance.  A  mistake  at  this  point  committed  in  the 
schools   would   be   fatal   to   all   sound  education.     Were 


TEACHING  ENGLISH   LITERATURE.  131 

literature  to  remain  in  the  schools  a  day  after  the  teachers 
should  get  into  their  heads  the  idea  that  their  great  func- 
tion is  to  teach  "  beauty,"  it  would  be  an  unmitigated 
curse. 

But  while  literature  as  such  presents  to  our  minds  but 
two  primary  aspects,  it  presents  many  subordinate  ones. 
It  may  be  studied  with  a  lexical  purpose,  dictionary  in 
hand ;  or  it  may  be  treated  philologically,  inquiring  into 
the  history  and  origin  of  words.  It  may  be  made  to 
teach  or  illustrate  the  history  of  opinion  and  feeling,  man- 
ners and  customs,  morals,  politics,  and  religion,  social  life, 
and  many  other  interesting  matters.  The  stress  may  be 
laid  on  phonology,  on  the  structure  of  sentences,  on  style, 
on  the  mannerisms  of  authors.  The  growth  of  literature, 
the  life,  character,  and  environment  of  authors,  the  rela- 
tion of  literature  to  social  life  as  cause  or  effect,  are  all 
important  aspects  of  the  subject.  Or  the  student  may 
spend  his  time  hunting  for  curiosities,  just  as  men  have 
sought  out  strange  signboards  in  cities  and  quaint  epi- 
taphs in  churchyards.  _It  must  be  admitted,  too,  that 
these  subordinate  features  have  value,  but  not  equal  value. 
All, or  most  of  them,  maybe  recognised  in  teaching  litera- 
ture, but  not  to  the  same  degree.  The  truth  is  that  they 
have  variable  values,  according  to  the  interest  and  purpose 
of  the  student.  But,  plainly,  these  variable  factors  must 
not  be  permitted  to  usurp  the  place  that  belongs  of  right 
to  the  universal  factors.  It  is  perfectly  proper  to  use 
literature  as  a  basis  for  teaching  grammar,  philology,  his- 
tory, and  the  like,  only  the  teacher  who  thus  employs  it 
should  not  suppose  that  he  is  teaching  literature.  Mr. 
John  Morley  says,  "  Literature,  viewed  as  an  instrument  of 
systematic  education  .  .  .  would  mean  a  connected  survey 
of  idea,  sentiment,  imagination,  taste,  invention,  and  all 
the  other  material  of  literature,  as  affecting,  and  affected 


132  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

by,  the  great  experiences  of  the  human  mind,  and  social 
changes  brought  by  time."*  Literature,  therefore,  has  a 
grand  teaching  function,  instructing  men  in  politics,  in 
morals  and  manners,  in  taste,  and  in  religion,  expanding 
their  minds,  filling  them  with  high  ideals,  and  in  all  ways 
refining  their  character  and  ennobling  their  life. 

It  can  not  be  said,  on  the  whole,  that  literature  is  so 
taught  in  the  schools  as  to  fill  this  measure.  Often  at- 
tention is  fixed  on  subordinate  ends  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  work  ceases  to  be  the  study  of  literature ;  turn- 
ing on  grammar,  rhetoric,  philology,  criticism,  or  on  two 
or  more  of  these  combined.  Nor  is  it  hard  to  discover 
the  causes  of  the  failure.  Those  to  whom  the  majority 
of  teachers  look  for  guidance  have  sometimes  failed  to 
state  clearly  and  strongly  the  true  ends  of  the  study.  The 
classical  tradition  and  the  difficulty  of  the  subject  to- 
gether have  suggested  false  ideals  and  false  mehods.  Clas- 
sical teachers  tend  to  lay  the  stress  on  the  grammatical 
and  philological  elements  of  the  classics  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  literary  elements  ;  which,  again,  is  due  partly  to 
the  fact  that  the  pupils  are  learning  foreign  languages, 
and  partly  to  the  exaggeration  of  scientific  method,  due 
in  large  measure  to  German  influence.  Often  notes  and 
comments  are  accumulated  until  the  classic  is  buried  out 
of  sight.  Often  the  teacher  expends  his  strength  on 
points  that  are  important  only  to  the  specialist.  Now, 
most  unfortunately,  the  classical  teacher  has  stood  as  the 
model  of  the  literature  teacher.  First  it  has  been  as- 
sumed that  English  literature  should  be  made  to  answer 
the  same  educational  ends  as  the  classical  or  modern  lan- 
guages, and  then  methods  have  been  chosen  with  reference 
to  that  ideal.     The  assumption  is  false  and  the  methods 

*  J.  C.  Collins  :  The  Study  of  English  Literature,  pp.  100,  110. 


TEACHING  EXGLISn  LITERATURE.  133 

are  vicious.  For  evidence,  I  may  point  to  the  schools  and 
to  many  of  the  editions  of  English  classics  that  have  been 
prepared  for  use  in  the  schools.  My  attention  has  been 
called  in  particular  to  the  "  Cambridge  Milton  "  edited  by 
Mr.  A.  "W.  Verity  for  the  University  Press.  Paradise 
Lost,  books  iii  and  iv,  now  lies  before  me.  The  volume, 
which  is  really  a  beautiful  one,  is  made  up  as  follows  :  In- 
troduction (embracing  Life  of  Milton,  History  of  Para- 
dise Lost,  The  Story  of  the  Poem,  Milton's  Blank  Verse), 
71  pages ;  text,  GO  pages  ;  notes,  78  pages  ;  index  of  words 
and  phrases,  4  pages  ;  total,  213  pages.  The  disproportion 
of  the  illustrative  matter  to  the  text  is  really  much  greater 
than  the  figures  show,  because  the  type  in  which  it  is  put 
is  much  smaller.  Many  of  the  notes  deal  with  matter  that 
is  unimportant  or  merely  curious,  thus  drawing  the  atten- 
tion of  teacher  and  pupil  away  from  the  "  Milton  "  to  the 
sayings  about  Milton.  Every  student  of  the  poem  will 
remember  the  lines  (33-36,  book  iii)  in  which  the  poet 
speaks  of  the  blind  poets  and  prophets : 

.  .  .  ""Nor  sometimes  forget 
Those  other  two  equalled  with  me  in  fate, 
So  were  I  equalled  with  them  in  renown, 
Blind  Tharayris  and  blind  Ma^onides, 
And  Tiresias  and  Phineus,  prophets  old." 

To  these  lines  the  editor  devotes  nineteen  lines  of  closely 
printed  commentary.*     It  is  indeed  very  desirable  that 


* 


"Thamyris;  according  to  Homer,  Iliad  ii,  pp.  595-600,  a 
Thracian  bard,  who,  for  boasting  that  he  could  surpass  the  Muses  in 
song,  was  deprived  of  his  sight  and  of  the  power  of  singing.  Plato 
mentions  him  together  with  Orpheus  twice  (Laws  viii,  p.  829  E, 
Rep.  x.  p.  620  A). 

"  Ma?onides,  i.  e..  Homer ;  called  Ma?onides,  either  as  a  son  of 
Ma?on,  or  as  a  native  of  Maeonia,  the  ancient  name  of  Lydia.     Hence 
he  is  also  called  Majonius  senex,  and  his  poems  the  Maeonia)  chartse 
11 


134:  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

there  should  be  a  "  Milton  "  that  contains  all  this  learn- 
ing, and  Professor  Masson  has  well  met  that  want  in 
his  well-known  edition  of  the  Poetical  Works.  But  in  a 
"  Milton  for  schools,"  such  as  the  "  Cambridge  Milton " 
purports  to  be,  it  is  wholly  out  of  place.  Every  good 
teacher  knows  that  the  pupil  will  not  learn  the  facts  that 
Mr.  Verity  gives  unless  he  is  crammed,  that  he  will  very 
soon  forget  them  even  then,  and  that  they  would  be  of 
little  value  to  him  if  he  remembered  them  at  all.  "  There 
are  millions  of  truths,"  says  John  Locke,  "  that  men  are 
not  concerned  to  know  " ;  and  few  mental  qualities  in  the 
teacher  are  more  valuable  than  the  sense  of  perspective. 
We  do  not  know  the  name  of  Horace's  bore,  and  it  is  just 
as  well  that  we  do  not. 

Directly  opposed  to  the  Verity  model  of  teaching  lit- 
erature is  the  one  described  by  Mr.  Hudson  in  his  essay 
entitled  How  to  use  Shakespeare  in  School.*  Save  as 
might  be  necessary  to  accommodate  the  spirit  of  the  pas- 
sage to  prose  writing,  I  do  not  see  that  it  is  necessary  or 
advisable  to  change  a  single  word  in  the  following  passage 
before  we  adopt  it  as  a  general  method  for  school  use : 

or  Maeonium  carmen.  The  tradition  of  his  blindness  is  mentioned 
as  early  as  the  Homeric  Hymn  to  the  Delian  Apollo. 

"  Tiresias,  the  blind  soothsayer  of  Thebes,  famous  through  the 
(Edipus  Rex  of  Sophocles  and  many  other  works  down  to  Tenny- 
son's Tiresias.  In  De  Idea  Platonica,  pp.  25,  26,  M.,  refers  to  him  as 
'  the  Theban  seer  whose  blindness  proved  his  best  illumination.' 

"  Phineus,  another  blind  prophet,  king  of  Salmydessus  in  Thrace ; 
best  known  in  connection  with  the  Harpies  (iEneid  iii,  pp.  211-213), 
from  whose  torments  two  of  the  Argonauts  freed  him.  In  his  sec- 
ond Letter  to  Leonard  Philaras  (September  28,  1854),  M.  compares 
himself  with  Phineus,  quoting  the  account  of  the  prophet's  blind- 
ness in  the  Argonautica  of  Apollonius  Rhodius." 

*  See  his  As  ton  Like  It,  prepared  for  use  in  Schools  and 
Families. 


TEACHING   ENGLISH  L1TERATUEE.  135 

"  As  to  the  language  part  of  the  exercise,  this  is  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  meaning  and  force  of  the  Poet's  words, 
but  also  enters  more  or  less  into  sundry  points  of  gram- 
mar, word-growth,  prosody,  and  rhetoric,  making  the 
whole  as  little  technical  as  possible.  And  I  use,  or  aim  to 
use,  all  this  for  the  one  sole  purpose  of  getting  the  pupils 
to  understand  what  is  immediately  before  them,  not  look- 
ing at  all  to  any  lingual  or  philological  purposes  lying 
beyond  the  matter  directly  in  hand.  And  here  I  take 
the  utmost  care  not  to  push  the  part  of  verbal  comment 
and  explanation  so  long  or  so  far  as  to  become  dull  and 
tedious  to  the  pupils.  For  as  I  wish  them  to  study  Shake- 
speare, simply  that  they  may  learn  to  understand  and  to 
love  his  poetry  itself,  so  I  must  and  will  have  them  take 
pleasure  in  the  process  ;  and  people  are  not  apt  to  fall  or 
to  grow  in  love  with  things  that  bore  them.  I  would 
much  rather  they  should  not  fully  understand  his  thought, 
or  not  take  in  the  full  sense  of  his  lines,  than  that  they 
should  feel  anything  of  weariness  or  disgust  in  the  study ; 
for  the  defect  of  present  comprehension  can  easily  be  re- 
paired in  the  future,  but  not  so  the  disgust.  If  they  really 
love  the  poetry,  and  find  it  pleasant  to  their  souls,  I'll  risk 
the  rest."* 

It  must  be  remembered  that,  for  the  time,  we  are  deal- 
ing with  schools,  and  not  with  colleges  and  universities. 
And  for  schools  Mr.  Hudson  puts  the  mark  high  enough. 
In  the  higher  institutions  of  learning,  much  more  can  be 
undertaken  and  accomplished.  It  is  to  this  more  ad- 
vanced stage  of  instruction  that  I  should  refer  nearly  all 
of  the  admirable  suggestions  of  method  found  in  Mr.  J. 
C.  Collins's  Study  of  English  Literature,  although  the 
secondary  school  teacher  may  read  the  book  with  great 
advantage.! 

*  P.  xii.  f  See  particularly  pp.  51-53. 


136  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Within  the  limits  denned  there  is  room  for  a  variety  of 
exercises,  or  rather  of  questions.  How  far  the  study  of 
words,  grammatical  analysis,  historical  illustration,  and 
the  like  shall  he  carried  is  jiartly  a  question  of  time  and 
place.  How  proficient  are  the  pupils?  How  much  time 
is  assigned  to  the  subject?  Very  often  subordinate  ends 
are  essential  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  main  purpose. 
Lexical  questions,  grammatical  questions,  rhetorical  ques- 
tions, historical  facts,  and  facts  of  Nature  must  be  sup- 
plied in  order  that  the  content  of  the  passage  or  lesson  may 
be  reached.  Sometimes  the  general  grammatical  frame- 
work of  a  paragraph  or  composition  may  be  considered. 
If  the  aim  is  to  dwell  upon  a  piece  until  it  is  thor- 
oughly understood,  then  questions  and  explanations  must 
be  multiplied  until  that  end  is  reached.  But  the  main 
rule  is  this:  In  teaching  literature,  questions  and  illus- 
trations must  be  subordinate  to  the  development  of  the 
literary  elements  of  the  composition.  Many  things  can 
be  taught  about  literature  without  actually  teaching  it. 
Professor  Corson  contends  that  "a  sufficiently  qualified 
teacher  could  arrive  at  a  nicer  and  more  certain  estimate 
of  what  a  student  has  appreciated,  both  intellectually  and 
aesthetically,  of  a  literary  product,  or  any  portion  of  a 
literary  product,  by  requiring  him  to  read  it,  than  ho 
could  arrive  at  through  any  amount  of  catechising."  * 

Sometimes  it  is  asked  whether  it  is  better  to  study  a 
few  compositions  very  thoroughly  or  many  compositions 
less  thoroughly.  In  my  view  the  proper  plan  is  to  com- 
bine the  two  ideas,  taking  pains,  however,  to  give  the  major 
part  of  the  time  to  the  more  general  and  discursive  work. 
The  one  exercise  will  give  depth,  the  other  breadth. 
The    occasional    intensive    study    of    a    composition    is 

*  Atlantic  Monthly,  June,  1895,  p.  812. 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  137 

strongly  to  be  recommended.  What  I  mean  is  to  study, 
say,  L'Allegro  or  a  play  of  Shakespeare,  with  a  view  of  get- 
ting out  of  it  all  there  is  in  it.  Still,  it  is  not  true  that 
"all  is  in  all."  Bacon's  generalization — some  books  are 
to  be  tasted,  others  to  be  swallowed,  and  some  few  to  be 
chewed  and  digested — is  a  good  rule  for  the  schoolroom. 
If  we  select  only  books  of  his  third  class,  much  of  the 
chewing  and  digesting  must  be  deferred  until  the  school 
has  been  left  behind.  The  saying  that  "  the  child  should 
pass  by  nothing  without  thoroughly  understanding  it," 
is  one  of  those  pedagogical  half-truths  that  are  so  cur- 
rent, like  the  maxim  "  Never  tell  the  child  anything  that 
he  can  find  out  for  himself." 

Mr.  Hudson  protests  vigorously  against  making  litera- 
ture a  subject  for  recitation.*  This  is  right,  provided  we 
are  to  take  the  word  "  recitation  "  in  its  strict  sense.  lie 
recommends  what  he  calls  "  exercises,"  "  the  pupils  read- 
ing the  author  under  the  direction,  correction,  and  ex- 
planation of  the  teacher.  The  thing  is  to  have  the  pupils, 
with  the  teacher's  help  and  guidance,  commune  with  the 
author  while  in  class,  and  quietly  drink  in  the  sense  and 
spirit  of  his  workmanship."  Such  exercises,  however, 
should  be  supplemented  by  summaries,  arguments,  and 
written  essays  on  selected  points  of  interest.  It  follows 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  pupils  will  answer  their  questions  with 


*  Professor  Laurie  demands,  "  Why  do  so  many  teachers  make 
lessons  of  everything  %  "  He  protests  against  the  "  dissection  "  of  a 
great  writer,  and  indignantly  asks :  "  How  can  you  expect  any  one  to 
enjoy  Lycidas,  or  Portia's  speech,  or  Hamlet's  soliloquy,  or  Tintern 
Abbey,  or  the  Ode  to  Duty,  if  they  read  ten  lines  a  day — have  tft 
learn  by  heart  a  lot  of  notes  (philological  and  antiquarian),  and  then 
begin  to  mangle  the  passages  by  constructing  parsing  and  analysis 
tables — finally,  perhaps,  resorting  to  the  degrading  process  of  par- 
aphrasing ?"— (P.  115.) 


138  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

their  texts  open  before  them.  To  compel  them  to  cram 
tip  for  the  exercise  would  defeat  the  whole  purpose.  Mr. 
Hudson  does  not  require,  but  commonly  advises,  his  pupils 
to  read  the  author  before  coming  to  the  exercise.  "  Such 
preparation  is  indeed  well,  but  not  necessary."  On  this 
point  the  best  teachers  will  hardly  agree  with  him.  As 
much  as  any  exercise,  literature  needs  preparation.  The 
bad  adaptation  of  the  real  study  of  literature  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  conventional  recitation  is  one  reason  why  so 
little  of  it  has  hitherto  been  found  in  the  schools.  Many 
teachers  can  grind  on  grammar,  philology,  or  definitions, 
who  do  not  see  their  way  to  teaching  the  conceptions 
of  individual  minds  expressed  in  a  permanent  form  of 
words. 

What  has  been  said  about  recitations  leads  directly  to 
another  matter.  Professor  Laurie  charges  the  Oxford 
dons  with  mistaking  the  question,  "  Can  literature  be 
taught  ?  "  for  the  question,  "  Can  literature  be  examined 
on  ?  "  The  distinction  is  an  important  one,  and  the  mis- 
take is  by  no  means  confined  to  Oxford.  Literature  is  a 
poor  subject  for  the  conventional  examiner,  just  as  it  is  a 
poor  subject  for  the  teacher  who  spends  his  time  in  merely 
hearing  lessons.  It  is  too  indefinite  and  intangible.  You 
can  examine  on  the  history  of  literature  and  ask  many 
important  questions  about  literary  masterpieces,  but  how 
can  you  reach  the  mental  growth  that  comes  to  the  mind 
from  silently  feeding  on  ideas  and  beauty?  The  results 
of  the  study  will  declare  themselves  to  the  discerning  in 
time,  but  they  can  not  be  summed  up  at  the  end  of  the 
term  in  an  examination  paper. 

Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  that  literature,  as  such,  can 
not  be  examined  on.  I  mean  only  that  the  examiner  must 
not  look  for  such  an  examination  as  he  would  expect  in 
science,  in  mathematics,  or  even  in  the  classical  and  mod- 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  139 

ern  literatures.  He  must  adapt  his  questions  to  the  real 
nature  of  the  work  ;  must  take  into  account  the  writer's 
aim,  sources,  and  execution  ;  must  look  to  connections  of 
thought,  to  cause  and  effect,  to  scope  and  tendency,  and 
must  expect  general  rather  than  specific  answers.  The 
process  will  test  the  pupil's  grasp  of  mind  and  literary 
appreciation  rather  than  his  technical  knowledge.  It  can 
not  be  doubted,  either,  that  the  non-adaptation  of  litera- 
ture to  the  purposes  of  strict  examination  has  had  a 
marked  effect  m  turning  teachers  of  the  subject  to  gram- 
mar and  philology,  and  that  it  was  formerly  influential 
in  causing  the  history  of  literature  to  be  preferred  to 
literature  itself  as  a  subject  of  school  study.  It  is  so 
difficult  for  many  minds  to  believe  that  any  valuable 
educational  work  is  being  done,  unless  it  can  be  meas- 
ured out  in  examination  papers  ! 

Good  sense  protests,  too,  against  the  foolish  haste  and 
impatience  that  play  so  large  a  part  in  American  educa- 
tion. In  no  other  subject,  perhaps,  is  it  so  important  for 
parent,  teacher,  or  pupil  to  be  content  to  abide  his  time. 
Some  one  has  compared  the  constant  questioning  of  a  child 
about  a  fact  or  an  idea  that  has  found  lodgment  in  his 
mind  to  pulling  up  the  beanstalks  in  the  garden  to  see 
whether  they  are  growing.  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  the 
analogy  is  a  happy  one,  but  if  it  holds  anywhere  it  holds 
in  teaching  literature.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  the 
doctrine  of  natural  or  negative  education,  which  Rousseau 
carried  to  such  an  absurd  extent,  be  not  a  needed  correc- 
tion of  our  self-conscious  processes.  We  express  our  ped- 
agogical ideas  in  metaphors  that  react  upon  our  ideas,  and 
so  influence  practice.  The  conception  of  education  as 
exercise  resulting  in  strength  needs  to  be  supplemented  by 
the  conception  of  education  &§  feeding  resulting  in  growth. 
The  processes  of  real  culture  are  deep,  silent,  and  uncon- 


140  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

scious ;  that  is  the  least  valuable  part  of  an  education 
which  is  most  on  the  surface  ;  and  the  strongest  argument 
that  can  be  advanced  for  teaching  literature  is  the  fact 
that  thus  a  habit  will  be  formed  and  some  material  accu- 
mulated which  will  support  and  gladden  life  when  pupils 
have  passed  out  of  the  school  into  the  world,  and  have 
forgotten  their  more  technical  studies. 

It  happened  that  the  history  of  literature  got  into  the 
schools  before  literature  itself.  This  was  due  to  a  variety 
of  causes,  some  of  which  have  been  suggested.  Shaw's 
Outlines  of  English  Literature  was  the  pioneer  book  in 
the  field.  This  was  all  wrong.  "  Matter  before  form  "  is 
a  sound  maxim,  and  to-day,  if  time  can  be  found  for  only 
one  of  the  subjects,  literature  should  by  all  means  have 
the  right  of  way.  Fortunately,  the  needed  correction  has 
now  been  made :  literature  is  in  the  schools.  Still,  it  is 
desirable  to  teach  the  history  in  a  systematic  way.  It 
would  hardly  suffice  to  rely  on  such  facts  as  would  be 
taught,  or  could  be  taught,  in  connection  with  the  works 
studied.  The  subject  should  be  presented  connectedly, 
in  outline,  and  may  fairly  embrace  authors  whose  works 
pupils  have  not  studied,  provided  they  have  studied  other 
authors  in  sufficient  number.*  But  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  literature  and  the  history  of  literature  are 
different  though  related  subjects. 

I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  say  how  much  time  should 
be  allotted  to  English  literature,  either  in  elementary 
grades  or  in  high  schools,  and  much  less  to  lay  out  a 
course  of  study.  My  object  is  a  more  general  and  strictly 
pedagogical  one.  Besides,  those  questions  have  been  often 
auswered  by  the  most  competent  experts.  But  I  do  deem 
it  pertinent  to  offer  one  or  two  observations  on  the  kind 

*  Stopford  Brooke's  Primer  will  well  answer  for  an  outline. 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  1H 

of  literature  that  should  be  chosen  for  high-school  use. 
If  this  use  is  properly  regulated,  there  will  be  little  trouble 
in  the  grades  below. 

Observation  has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  teachers 
are  sometimes  too  ambitious,  attempting  compositions 
that  are  too  difficult  for  their  pupils.  Of  Shakespeare, 
the  second-grade  plays  should  be  preferred  to  the  first- 
grade  ones  :  Twelfth  Night,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  As 
You  Like  It,  A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream,  and  Julius 
Caesar  should  precede  Othello,  Macbeth,  and  Hamlet. 
The  great  Shakespearean  tragedies  are  psychological  and 
ethical  studies  too  profound  for  the  high-school  grade  of 
mind.  Something  the  same  may  be  said  of  Hawthorne — 
choose  the  minor  books  rather  than  the  major  ones.  Em- 
erson I  have  found  in  high  schools,  where  he  is  entirely 
out  of  place.  If  selections  are  made  from  Carlyle,  they 
should  be  essays  that  he  wrote  before  he  developed  those 
extreme  mannerisms  of  thought  and  diction  which  so 
strongly  mark  his  later  writings.  Burke  and  Webster 
should  be  used  with  judgment.  The  Speech  on  Concilia- 
tion of  America  should  be  preferred  to  The  Speech  on  the 
Nabob  of  Arcot's  Debts,  or  The  Keflcctions  on  the  French 
Re  volution.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Webster's  First 
Bunker  Hill  Oration  and  Reply  to  Hayne  and  his  great 
legal  arguments.  Addison's  and  Irving's  best  papers, 
Macaulay's  best  essays,  Longfellow's  poems,  Scott's  novels 
and  poems,  Goldsmith,  Milton's  minor  poems — these  are 
sources  little  likely  to  be  too  largely  drawn  upon  in 
schools. 

I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  make  a  direct  or 
formal  argument  showing  that  it  is  desirable  to  have  liter- 
ature taught  in  the  schools  of  the  country.  Much  of  the 
present  chapter  is  indirectly  an  argument  for  such  teach- 
ing.    But  it  should  be  said  that  literature  has  a  distinct 


1^2  TEACHING    THE  LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

place  and  a  large  place  in  education.  Science  brings  the 
pupil  into  contact  with  the  facts  and  laws  of  surrounding 
Nature.  Philosophy  spreads  before  him  the  facts  and  laws 
of  his  own  being.  Mathematics  opens  the  door  leading  to 
the  great  world  of  quantity  and  so  of  measurement.  His- 
tory unrolls  the  scroll  of  human  events,  and  is  occupied 
with  probable  knowledge.  Language  and  grammar  deal 
with  the  mechanism  of  thought,  and  so  involve  its  nature 
and  laws.  Art  is  the  study  of  beauty  in  objective  forms. 
Literature  is  occupied  with  the  human  spirit  as  expressed 
in  language.  It  is  humanity.  Its  subject-matter  is  the 
conceptions  of  individual  minds  put  in  permanent  forms 
of  words.  As  Matthew  Arnold  said,  it  consists  of  the  best 
things  that  men  have  thought  and  said.  And,  to  state 
what  literature  is,  is  to  assign  the  best  of  all  reasons  why 
it  should  be  taught  in  schools.  As  said  before,  the  pub-- 
lic  schools  of  the  United  States  now  cost  the  people  $170,- 
000,000  a  year,  by  far  the  largest  sum  ever  expended  by 
a  single  nation  for  such  a  purpose  ;  but  the  schools  earn 
the  money,  provided  they  do  measurably  well  these  three 
things  only :  Teach  the  children  of  the  land  how  to  read, 
teach  them  what  to  read,  and  give  them  a  love  for  what  is 
good  in  English  literature. 

The  occasional  intensive  study  of  a  lesson  has  been 
recommended.  Such  work  will  naturally  take  a  wider 
range  than  purely  literary  study.  Questions  in  grammar 
will  often  serve  as  keys  to  successful  interpretation.  This 
chapter  may  fitly  close  with  an  illustrative  lesson. 

Lines  from  L'Allegro. 

1.  Haste  thee,  Nymph,  and  bring  with  thee 

2.  Jest  and  youthful  Jollity, 

3.  Quips  and  cranks  and  wanton  wiles, 

4.  Nods  and  becks  and  wreathed  smiles, 


TEACHING  ENGLISH   LITERATURE.  143 

5.  Such  as  hang  on  Hebe's  cheek, 

6.  And  love  to  live  in  dimple  sleek  ; 

7.  Sport  that  wrinkled  Care  derides, 

8.  And  Laughter  holding  both  his  sides. 

9.  Come,  and  trip  it,  as  you  go, 

10.  On  the  light  fantastic  toe  ; 

11.  And  in  thy  right  hand  lead  with  thee 

12.  The  mountain  nymph,  sweet  Liberty ; 

13.  And,  if  I  give  thee  honour  due, 

14.  Mirth,  admit  me  of  thy  crew, 

15.  To  live  with  her,  and  live  with  thee, 

16.  In  unreproved  pleasures  free  ; 

17.  To  hear  the  lark  begin  his  flight, 

18.  And,  singing,  startle  the  dull  night, 

19.  From  his  watchtower  in  the  skies, 

20.  Till  the  dappled  dawn  doth  rise  ; 

21.  Then  to  come,  in  spite  of  sorrow, 

22.  And  at  my  window  bid  good-morrow, 

23.  Through  the  sweetbrier  or  the  vine, 

24.  Or  the  twisted  eglantine, 

25.  While  the  cock,  with  lively  din, 

26.  Scatters  the  rear  of  darkness  thin ; 

27.  And  to  the  stack,  or  the  barn  door, 

28.  Stoutly  struts  his  dames  before ; 

29.  Oft  listening  how  the  hounds  and  horn 

30.  Cheerly  rouse  the  slumbering  morn, 
81.  From  the  side  of  some  hoar  hill, 

32.  Through  the  high  wood  echoing  shrill ; 

33.  Sometimes  walking,  not  unseen, 

34.  By  hedgerow  elms,  on  hillocks  green, 

35.  Right  against  the  eastern  gate, 

36.  Where  the  great  Sun  begins  his  state, 

37.  Robed  in  flames  and  amber  light, 

38.  The  clouds  in  thousand  liveries  dis?ht 1 

39.  While  the  ploughman,  near  at  hand, 

40.  Whistles  o'er  the  furrowed  land, 

41.  And  the  milkmaid  singeth  blithe, 

42.  And  the  mower  whets  his  scythe, 

43.  And  every  shepherd  tells  his  tale 

44.  Under  the  hawthorn  in  the  dale. 


144  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE- ARTS. 

These  lines  suggest  many  interesting  questions  as  to 
the  meaning  and  form  of  words,  the  force  of  expressions, 
and  the  nature  and  connection  of  the  thought.  The  fol- 
lowing are  given  : — 

1.  What  is  a  nymph  ?  How  many  nymphs  are  men- 
tioned in  the  exercise  ?  What  are  their  names  ?  Why 
is  the  second  one  called  by  the  name  given  to  her  ? 

2.  How  many  syllables  in  "  wreathed,"  line  4,  and  why? 

3.  What  is  the  construction  of  the  nouns  in  lines  2,  3, 
4  ?  Why  are  these  things  in  particular  mentioned  ?  Who 
is  Hebe  ?    And  why  is  she  here  introduced  ? 

5.  Why  do  "sport"  and  "care,"  line  7,  begin  with 
capitals?  What  is  the  subject  of  "  deride,"  same  line,  and 
why  do  you  think  so  ? 

6.  Why  is  "  Laughter"  presented  as  holding  his  sides? 

7.  Line  9,  who  is  to  come? 

8.  Explain  "  fantastic  toe,"  line  10. 

9.  Give  the  construction  of  "  me,"  line  14. 

10.  What  do  "  to  live,"  line  15,  "  to  hear,"  line  17,  and 
"  to  come,"  line  21,  modify  ? 

11.  Answer  the  same  questions  for  "listening,"  line  29, 
and  "  walking,"  line  33. 

12.  How  can   one   hear   a   lark  "  begin "  his   flight, 

line  17? 

13.  Explain  "  startle  the  dull  night." 

14.  What  idea  do  you  get  from  "  watchtower,"  line 
19  ?     Whose  watchtower  is  it  ? 

15.  Explain  the  expression  "dappled  dawn,"  line  20. 

16.  Explain  lines  21-24. 

17.  What  clauses  are  introduced  by  "  while,"  lines  25 
and  39  ?  and  how  far  does  the  force  of  the  adverb  extend 
in  either  case? 

18.  What  does  the  poet  mean  by  line  2C  ? 

19.  Explain  line  30. 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  145 

20.  What  is  the  "  hoar  hill "  of  line  31  ? 

21.  Why  does  the  poet  introduce  the  expression  "not 
unseen,"  line  33  ?     To  whom  does  it  relate  ? 

22.  Explain  the  expression  "  eastern  gate,"  line  35. 

23.  Why  is  light  called  "amber,"  line  37  ? 

24.  Line  38,  what  is  the  meaning  of  "  dight "  ? 

25.  What  is  the  meaning  of  "  furrowed  land,"  line  40  ? 

26.  What  picture  do  you  get  from  lines  33-38? 

27.  Explain  the  last  two  lines  of  the  exercise. 

28.  Point  out  the  lines  that  give  the  finest  picture  in 
the  above  exercise.  « 

29.  What  contrast  do  you  observe  in  the  pictures  pre- 
sented in  lines  33-38,  and  39-44? 

More  general  questions  than  these  may  be  asked,  pro- 
vided they  are  within  the  student's  range  of  knowledge. 
Who  wrote  L' Allegro  ?  Name  the  companion  poem. 
What  do  the  two  names  mean  ?  Show  that  the  names  are 
descriptive  of  the  poems.  Show  that  the  machinery,  the 
scenery,  and  the  tone  of  the  two  poems  are  consonant  with 
the  two  leading  thoughts  of  the  poet.  Why  does  the  poet 
in  L' Allegro  take  morning  for  the  time  of  the  scene? 
Why  in  the  companion  poem  night  ? 

How  many  questions  should  be  asked  on  a  lesson  is  a 
matter  of  judgment.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  above 
is  not  given  as  a  model  for  the  daily  lesson,  but  as  a  model 
of  an  occasional  intensive  lesson.  In  these  matters  noth- 
ing can  take  the  place  of  good  sense  in  the  teacher. 

Note. — Remarking  upon  the  tendency  to  bury  the  literary  mas- 
terpieces under  wagon-loads  of  commentary  and  discussion,  Mr. 
Frederic  Harrison  exclaims:  "Alas!  the  Paradise  Lost  is  lost 
again  to  us  beneath  an  inundation  of  graceful  academic  verse, 
sugary  stanzas  of  ladylike  prettiness,  and  ceaseless  explanations  in 
more  or  less  readable  prose  of  what  John  Milton  meant  or  did  not 
mean,  or  what  he  saw  or  did  not  see,  who  married  his  great-aunt, 


140  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

and  why  Adam  or  Satan  is  like  that  or  unlike  the  other.  We  read 
a  perfect  library  about  the  Paradise  Lost,  but  the  Paradise  Lost 
itself  we  do  not  read." — (The  Choice  of  Books,  p.  14.) 

At  the  same  time,  Professor  Corson,  who  can  hardly  find  words 
to  express  his  disapproval  of  that  study  of  literature  which  sticks 
in  the  bark  and  multiplies  useless  questions,  still  holds  that  the 
grammar  of  a  poem  is  an  element  in  its  study.  "  In  Gray's  Elegy," 
he  says,  "  there  are  several  grammatical  constructions  which  need 
to  be  particularly  looked  into."  He  quotes  these  stanzas  from 
Tennyson's  Palace  of  Art — 

"  But  in  dark  corners  of  her  palace  stood 
Uncertain  shapes  ;  and  unawares 
On  white-eyed  phantasms  weeping  tears  of  blood, 
And  horrible  nightmares, 

"  And  hollow  shades  enclosing  hearts  of  flame 
And,  with  dim-greeted  foreheads  all, 
On  corpses  three  months  old,  at  noon  she  came, 
That  stood  against  the  wall  " — 

and  remarks  that  "the  adverb  'unawares'  in  the  first  of  these 
stanzas  qualifies  '  came '  in  the  second,  they  being  separated  to  the 
extent  of  five  verses ;  '  came '  is  the  antecedent  of  the  preposition 
'  on,'  immediately  following  '  unawares.'  The  relativo  clause  '  that 
stood  against  the  wall '  is  separated  from  its  antecedent  '  corpses ' 
by  the  predication  'at  noon  she  came.'" — (Atlantic  Monthly,  June, 
1895,  p.  812 ;  The  Aims  of  Literary  Study,  pp.  129-130.) 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF   EXGLISH    GRAMMAR. 

Helpful  pedagogical  discussion  of  English  grammar 
must  take  account  of  the  nature  of  grammar  in  general. 
What  is  grammar  ?  What  is  its  educational  function  or 
value  ?  Why  should  English  grammar  be  taught  in  the 
schools  of  the  country  ? 

Unfortunately,  antiquity  gives  us  little  assistance  in 
answering  these  questions.  Dionysius  Thrax,  an  Alexan- 
drian who  taught  Greek  in  Rome  in  the  time  of  Pompey 
the  Great,  and  who  wrote  the  first  practical  Greek  gram- 
mar, and  in  fact  the  first  practical  grammar  of  any  kind, 
that  has  come  down  to  us,  gave  this  definition : 

"  Grammar  is  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the  usages 
of  language  as  generally  current  among  poets  and  prose 
writers.  It  is  divided  into  six  parts:  (1)  Trained  reading, 
writh  due  regard  to  prosody  [i.  e.,  aspiration,  accentuation, 
quantity,  emphasis,  metre,  etc.]  ;  (2)  exposition  according 
to  poetic  figures  [literary  criticism]  ;  (3)  ready  statement 
of  dialectical  peculiarities  and  allusions  [philology,  geog- 
raphy, history,  mythology]  ;  (4)  discovery  of  etymologies; 
(5)  accurate  account  of  analogies  [accidence  and  syntax]  ; 
(0)  criticism  of  poetical  productions,  which  is  the  no- 
blest part  of  the  grammatic  art  [ethics,  politics,  strategy, 
etc.]."  * 

*  Davidson :  Aristotle  and  Ancient  Educational  Ideals,  p.  214. 
A  translation   of  the  Grammar  of  Dionysius  Thrax,  by  Thomas 

147 


148  TEACHING  TIIE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

The  general  definition  we  might  accept,  but  Thrax's 
analysis  is  far  too  comprehensive  ;  it  includes  not  merely 
what  we  call  grammar,  but  also  artistic  reading,  literary 
criticism,  philology,  etc.,  and  the  discussion  of  poetical 
productions.  Still,  Thrax  was  only  following  the  usage 
current  among  the  Greeks.  rpa/x/xartK-^,  as  taught  by 
the  ypa/x/Aart/co?,  was  the  comprehensive  study  of  litera- 
ture. The  more  elementary  part  of  the  subject  was  some- 
times called  yf}ajxjxaTt(TTLK^  and  was  taught  by  the  ypa/x- 
/aaTKmjs,  while  the  more  general  name  was  reserved  for 
the  nobler  portions.  In  this  matter,  as  in  so  many  others, 
the  Romans  followed  the  Greeks.  Quintilian  says  the  boy 
who  has  attained  facility  in  reading  and  writing  should 
next  take  up  the  grammarians,  by  which  he  means  the 
teachers  of  language  and  literature.  He  divides  grammar 
into  "  the  art  of  speaking  correctly,  and  the  illustration  of 
the  poets,"  including  speaking  in  writing.  In  his  exposi- 
tion of  the  second  division,  conformably  to  the  general 
habit  of  his  mind,  he  includes  the  prose  writers  as  well  as 
the  poets,  and  mentions  music,  astronomy,  philosophy,  and 
eloquence  as  falling  within  the  purview  of  grammar.  Were 
we  to  accept  his  scheme,  we  should  certainly  agree  with 
him  that  no  man  should  "look  down  on  the  elements  of 
grammar  as  small  matters;  ...  to  those  entering  the  re- 
cesses, as  it  were,  of  this  temple  there  will  appear  much 
sympathy  on  points  which  may  not  only  sharpen  the  wits 
of  boys,  but  may  exercise  even  the  deepest  erudition  and 
knowledge."  * 

In  the  main,  antiquity  settled  the  usage  for  the  middle 
as;es.     Still,  there  was  a  considerable  contraction  of  the 

Davidson,  with  notes,  will  be  found  in  The  Journal  of  Speculative 
Philosophy,  vol.  viii,  pp.  326-339.    See  also  Max  Muller,  Lectures  on 
the  Science  of  Language,  first  series,  lecture  iii. 
*  Institutes  of  Oratory,  i,  iv,  1,  2,  G. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       149 

field ;  grammar  was  put  in  the  trivium,  not  the  quad- 
rivium.  It  was  considered  a  formal  and  not  a  real  study, 
which  was  in  perfect  accord  with  the  tendencies  of  the 
times. 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  grammar,  as  the  Greeks  and 
Latins  understood  it,  should  be  taught  in  schools,  but  not 
so  easy  to  see  why  it  should  be  so  taught  when  we  limit  it 
as  we  are  in  the  habit  of  doing  to-day.  This  is  the  some- 
what difficult  question  that  we  are  now  to  consider. 

Lindley  Murray,  whose  English  Grammar  first  ap- 
peared in  1795,  gave  this  definition:  "English  grammar 
is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  the  English  language 
with  propriety."  I  quote  this  book  because  it  was  more 
generally  used  in  its  time,  both  in  England  and  America, 
than  any  similar  book  ever  written ;  because  it  exercised 
a  great  influence  upon  succeeding  writers,  and  because  in 
respect  to  its  view  of  the  subject  it  fairly  represented  the 
grammatical  tradition  that  had  been  delivered  to  its  author. 

Kirkham's  English  Grammar,  first  published  in  1823, 
succeeded  Murray's  in  the  schools  of  the  United  States. 
Kirkham  first  defines  grammar  as  the  science  of  language, 
and  then  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  same  leaf  says,  "  Eng- 
lish grammar  is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  the  Eng- 
lish language  with  propriety."  No  better  illustration  than 
this  could  be  given  of  the  confusion  that  has  reigned  in 
men's  minds  on  this  subject.  In  treatment,  Kirkham  fol- 
lowed Murray  slavishly.* 

*  It  is  not  improbable  that  modern  definitions  of  grammar,  as 
well  as  of  other  sciences,  have  been  influenced  by  the  ancient  use  of 
the  word  "art."  "It  must  be  borne  in  mind,"  remarks  Professor 
Davidson,  "  that  the  Greek  rexvy,  art,  corresponds  almost  exactly  to 
what  we  mean  by  science." — Aristotle  and  Ancient  Educational 
Ideals,  p.  289,  note.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Latin  ars,  at  least 
in  relation  to  the  higher  education. 
12 


150  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

As  remarked  in  Chapter  I,  it  is  now  well  understood 
by  competent  scholars  and  teachers  that  the  traditionary 
definition  of  grammar  is  false,  and  that  the  traditionary 
mode  of  teaching  it  is  of  little  practical  value.     As  to 
the  second  point,  two  or  three  facts  are  decisive.     One  is 
that  good  speakers  and  writers  are  not  consciously  guided 
in  their  use  of  the  vernacular  by  grammatical  definitions 
and   rules.      Another  is  that   many  good   speakers   and 
writers  have  never  learned  or  even  studied  grammar  at 
all.     This  was  emphatically  the  case  in  antiquity,  when 
grammar  as  we  teach  it  was  unknown.     Another  fact  is 
that  a  knowledge  of  grammar  is  no  guarantee  of  propri- 
ety in  either  speech  or  writing.     It  would  be  hard  to  say 
whether  those  who  speak  and  write  good  English,  but  who 
can  not  parse,  or  those  who  parse  well,  but  can  not  speak 
or  write  good  English,  is  the  more  numerous  host.     Men 
learn  to  use  their  vernacular  by  using  it  -r  the  controlling 
factors  are  imitation  and  habit  working  through  associa- 
tion and  literature.      Speech  and  writing  are  arts,  and 
must  be  learned  by  speaking  and  writing.     The  rule  is, 
that  those  persons  who  habitually  hear  good   language 
spoken,  and  who  habitually  read  good  literature,  learn  to 
speak  with  propriety.     Dr.  Fitch  is  nearly  right  when  he 
says  that  whoever  tries  to  learn  or  to  teach  grammar  as 
an  art  is  doomed  to  disappointment.     "  No  doubt  there 
is  a  sense,  and  a  very  true  sense,"  says  he,  "  in  which  all 
careful  investigation  into  the  structure  of  words  and  their 
relations  gives  precision  to  speech.    But  this  is  an  indirect 
process.     The  direct  operation  and  use  of  grammar  rules 
in  improving  our  speech  and  making  it  correct  can  hardly 
be  said  to  exist  at  all."  * 

I    deem   it   important    still    further   to    fortify   this 

*  Lectures  on  Teaching,  iv. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       151 

main  position.     Professor  W.  D.  Whitney  bears  this  tes- 
timony : 

"  That  the  leading  object  of  the  study  of  English  gram- 
mar is  to  teach  the  correct  use  of  English,  is,  in  my  view, 
an  error,  and  one  which  is  gradually  becoming  removed, 
giving  way  to  the  sounder  opinion  that  grammar  is  the 
reflective  study  of  language,  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  of 
which  correctness  in  writing  is  only  one,  and  a  secondary 
or  subordinate  one — by  no  means  unimportant,  but  best 
attained  when  sought  indirectly.  It  should  be  a  pervad- 
ing element  in  the  whole  school  and  home  training  of  the 
young  to  make  them  use  their  own  tongue  with  accuracy 
and  force ;  and,  along  with  any  special  drilling  directed 
to  this  end,  some  of  the  rudimentary  distinctions  and  rules 
of  grammar  are  conveniently  taught ;  but  that  is  not  the 
study  of  grammar,  and  it  will  not  bear  the  intrusion  of 
much  formal  grammar  without  being  spoiled  for  its  own 
ends.  It  is  constant  use  and  practice,  under  never-failing 
watch  and  correction,  that  make  good  writers  and  speak- 
ers; the  application  of  direct  authority  is  the  most  efficient 
corrective.  Grammar  has  its  part  to  contribute,  but  rather 
in  the  higher  than  in  the  lower  stages  of  the  work.  One 
must  be  a  somewhat  reflective  user  of  language  to  amend 
even  here  and  there  a  point  by  grammatical  reasons,  and 
no  one  ever  changed  from  a  bad  speaker  to  a  good  one  by 
applying  the  rules  of  grammar  to  what  he  said."  * 

Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  enlarges  the  view  so  as  to  include 
rhetoric. 

"As  Dr.  Latham,  condemning  the  usual  school  drill 
in  Lindley  Murray,  rightly  remarks,  *  Gross  vulgarity  is 
a  fault  to  be  prevented,  but  the  proper  prevention  is  to 
be  got  from  habit— not  rules.'     Similarly  there  can  be 


Preface  to  Essentials  of  English  Grammar. 


152  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

little  question  that  good  composition  is  far  less  dependent 
upon  acquaintance  with  its  laws  than  upon  practice  and 
natural  aptitude.  A  clear  head,  a  quick  imagination,  and 
a  sensitive  ear  will  go  far  toward  making  all  rhetorical 
precepts  needless.  He  who  daily  hears  and  reads  well- 
framed  sentences  will  naturally,  more  or  less,  tend  to  use 
similar  ones.  And  where  there  exists  any  mental  idiosyn- 
crasy— where  there  is  a  deficient  verbal  memory,  or  an 
inadequate  sense  of  logical  dependence,  or  but  little  per- 
ception of  order,  or  a  lack  of  constructive  ingenuity — no 
amount  of  instruction  will  remedy  the  defect.  Neverthe- 
less, some  practical  result  may  be  expected  from  a  famil- 
iarity with  the  principles  of  style.  The  endeavour  to  con- 
form to  laws  may  tell,  though  slowly.  And  if  in  no  other 
way,  yet,  as  facilitating  revision,  a  knowledge  of  the  thing 
to  be  achieved — a  clear  idea  of  what  constitutes  a  beauty, 
and  what  a  blemish — can  not  fail  to  be  of  service."  * 

Professor  Whitney  tells  us  that  grammar  is  the  reflec- 
tive study  of  language ;  that  is,  grammar  is  the  science  of 
language,  the  laws  of  correct  expression.  Or,  to  quote  his 
technical  definition :  "  English  grammar  may  be  defined 
as  a  description  of  those  usages  of  the  English  language 
which  are  now  approved  by  the  best  writers  and  speakers." 

The  old  writers  set  the  example  of  dividing  English 
grammar  into  four  parts— Orthography,  Etymology,  Syn- 
tax, and  Prosody — and  the  new  ones  commonly  followed 
their  example.  The  first  and  last  of  these  divisions  have 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  subject ;  the  only  reasons 
for  including  them  in  the  text-book  are  tradition  and  the 
fact  that  they  contain  a  certain  amount  of  useful  informa- 
tion about  the  English  language  that  authors  do  not  know 
what  else  to  do  with.     Grammar  is  limited  to  etymology, 


*  The  Philosophy  of  Style. 


THE   FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       153 

or  the  doctrine  of  words,  and  to  syntax,  or  the  doctrine  of 
sentences. 

Two  causes  conspired  to  break  down  the  authority  of 
the  scholastic  grammar.  One  was  the  conviction  borne  in 
upon  teachers  that  it  was  largely  barren  of  practical  re- 
sult ;  the  other,  the  discovery  that  English  grammar  to  a 
great  extent  is  an  artificial  and  fictitious  creation.  This 
discovery  came  about  through  the  application  to  the  lan- 
guage of  scientific  method.  The  traditionary  English 
grammar  was  created,  not  by  an  original  inquiry  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  the  English  language,  but  by  imi- 
tating Latin  grammar.  "The  manuals  by  which  gram- 
mar was  first  taught  in  English  were  not  properly 
English  grammars.  They  were  translations  of  the  Latin 
accidence,  and  were  designed  to  aid  British  youth  in  ac- 
quiring knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  rather  than 
accuracy  in  the  use  of  their  own.  Two  languages  were 
often  combined  in  one  book,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching 
sometimes  both  together  and  sometimes  one  through  the 
other."*  One  of  the  first,  and  perhaps  the  most  cele- 
brated of  these  books,  was  attributed  to  William  Lily, 
although  it  appears  to  have  been  the  work  of  a  plurality 
of  authors.  It  was  called  "  King  Henry's  Grammar,"  from 
the  fact  that  Henry  VIII  commanded  it  to  be  taught 
throughout  his  realm  as  the  common  study  of  grammatical 
construction.  So  powerful  was  the  Latin  tradition,  and 
so  imperfect  the  current  knowledge  of  English,  that  even 
scholars  failed  to  see  that,  save  in  a  general  sense,  Latin 
grammar  could  not  be  a  model  for  English  grammar. 

For  example,  in  the  matter  of  accidence  Latin  is  called 
an  inflected,  English  a  non-inflected,  language.  Anglo- 
Saxon,  which  furnishes  the  framework  of  English  and  a 


*  Brown:  The  Grammar  of  English  Grammars,  chap.  ix. 


154  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

large  part  of  its  vocabulary,  was  an  inflected  language,  but 
many  of  its  inflections  have  been  'worn  away,  and  nothing 
has  taken  their  place.  Naturalized  Latin  and  Greek 
words  have  lost  nearly  all  their  original  inflections,  and 
become  assimilated  to  the  body  of  the  language.  As  a 
result,  what  are  called  "  agreement "  and  "  government " 
have  fared  hardly  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  thousand  years. 
A  great  number  of  the  distinctions  that  the  old  gram- 
marians made,  on  the  assumption  that  English  grammar 
must  conform  to  the  Latin  model,  have  no  existence  in 
fact.  We  still  go  through  the  motions  of  saying,  "  I  love, 
you  love,  he  loves,  we  love,  you  love,  they  love  " ;  never- 
theless, there  are  here  only  two  forms,  while  the  Latin 
verb  in  the  same  mode  and  tense  makes  six.  Still  more 
artificial  does  the  conjugation-system  appear  when  we 
take  into  account  the  modes  and  tenses.  Then  we  decline 
nouns  making  their  plural  in  s  or  es  as  though  there  were 
six  forms,  while  in  reality  there  are  but  two.  The  per- 
sonal pronoun  alone  offers  a  resemblance  somewhat  close 
to  the  Latin  accidence,  7ie,  his,  him,  while  the  adjective 
offers  the  widest  possible  departure  from  it. 

Similar  were  the  results  when  men  came  to  study  more 
thoroughly  English  syntax.  They  now  saw  that  many  of 
the  relations  summed  up  in  the  traditionary  rules  exist 
only  in  name.  Take,  for  example,  Kirkham's  Eule  III, 
"  The  nominative  case  governs  the  verb,"  and  his  Eule 
IV,  "  The  verb  must  agree  with  its  nominative  in  number 
and  person."  In  Latin  these  rules  mean  that  there  is  a 
certain  correspondence  in  form  between  the  noun  and  the 
verb  when  one  is  the  subject  and  the  other  the  predicate 
of  the  sentence,  but  in  English  the  most  that  they  can 
mean  is  that  occasionally  this  is  true,  while  in  most  cases 
it  is  not  true.  These  rules  absolutely  express  no  facts 
whatever  when  they  are  applied  to  the  past  and  the  future 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.       155 

tenses  of  the  verb.  Much  the  same  is  true  of  Rule  XIII, 
"  Personal  pronouns  must  agree  with  the  nouns  for  which 
they  stand  in  gender  and  number,"  and  Rule  XIV,  "  Rela- 
tive pronouns  agree  with  their  antecedents  in  gender,  per- 
son, and  number."  Rule  XX,  "Active  transitive  verbs 
govern  the  objective  case,"  would  mean  in  Latin  that  such 
a  verb  would  control  the  form  of  the  noun  immediately 
dependent  upon  it ;  in  English  it  means  either  nothing 
or  something  wholly  different.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  a 
shred  of  meaning  in  the  doctrine  of  English  case,  pro- 
vided we  take  the  word  in  the  Latin  sense.  In  the  classical 
languages  the  cases  are  departures  or  variations  of  sub- 
stantives and  adjectives  from  their  first  or  normal  forms, 
said  departures  expressing  certain  relations  of  thought;* 
but  in  English  case  has  been  commonly  based  on  another 
idea  than  form.  Thus  Kirkham  :  "  Case,  when  applied  to 
nouns  and  pronouns,  means  the  different  state,  situation, 
or  position  they  have  in  relation  to  other  words."  Since 
form  is  so  slight  a  factor  in  the  English  cases  it  is  natural 
that  there  should  be,  as  there  is.  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  number  of  cases  in  English  grammar.     In  Latin  or 


*  "  By  Aristotle  irraxris  was  applied  to  any  derived,  inflected,  or 
extended  form  of  the  simple  6yo/xa  or  pTjfia  (i.  e.,  the  nominative  of 
nouns,  the  present  indicative  of  verbs),  such  as  the  oblique  cases  of 
nouns,  the  variations  of  adjectives  due  to  gender  and  comparison, 
also  the  derived  adverb  (e.  g.,  Sikcuws  was  a  irraxris  of  Ukuios),  the 
other  tenses  and  modes  of  the  verb,  including  also  its  interrogative 
form.  The  grammarians,  following  the  Stoics,  restricted  irraxris  to 
nouns,  and  included  the  nominative  under  the  designation."— (Dr. 
Murray  :  A  New  English  Dictionary.) 

Xlruais  is  derived  from  irfrrrw,  irlirreiv,  to  fall,  and  means,  first,  a 
falling  or  fall,  and  secondly,  a  grammatical  inflection,  as  just  ex- 
plained. The  Romans  translated  the  word  by  casus  from  cado, 
cadere.  Hence  our  word  case.  The  original  idea  was  that  a  case 
was  a  departure  or  falling  away  from  some  standard  or  first  form. 


156  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Greek,  or  in  any  language,  where  the  form  decides,  such 
a  question  could  not  possibly  arise. 

Not  only  has  the  authority  of  the  scholastic  English 
grammar  been  pretty  thoroughly  broken  down,  but  the 
teaching  of  English  grammar  in  the  schools  has  been  dis- 
credited. While  it  has  not  been  thrown  out  of  the  schools 
generally,  it  has  become  less  prominent,  and  the  question 
is  often  asked  why  it  should  be  retained  at  all.  Accord- 
ingly, those  who  believe  in  its  retention  are  called  upon 
to  bring  forth  their  strong  reasons. 

1.  English  grammar  puts  the  pupil  in  possession  of 
much  interesting  knowledge  pertaining  to  the  vernacular. 
That  would  be  a  mistaken  education  which,  while  furnish- 
ing the  mind  with  a  store  of  facts  concerning  material 
things,  human  life,  history,  and  the  like,  should  wholly 
neglect  the  vesture  in  which  these  facts  are  clothed. 
Grammatical  facts  are  mental  facts,  and  it  is  certainly  as 
well  worth  one's  while  to  know  that  he  expresses  his 
thoughts  in  nouns,  verbs,  etc.,  as  it  is  to  know  the  names 
and  properties  of  strange  plants  and  animals.  As  Mr. 
Metcalfe  says  in  the  preface  to  his  English  Grammar : 
"  In  one  who  claims  to  be  a  scholar  ignorance  of  the  his- 
tory and  structure  of  his  language  is  no  more  excusable 
than  ignorance  in  any  other  department  of  knowledge." 

2.  Like  the  other  sciences,  grammar  has  disciplinary 
value.  The  study  involves  a  peculiar  exercise  of  the  powers 
of  observation — the  forms  of  words,  idioms,  and  sentences, 
and  of  the  realities  that  are  behind  them,  distinctions, 
meanings,  and  relations.  These  forms  and  relations  de- 
velop a  kind  of  sense  or  perception  that  external  objects 
do  not  develop.  Secondly,  the  study  involves  also  a  vigor- 
ous exercise  of  the  logical  powers — analysis,  abstraction, 
comparison,  inference.  Grammar  is  the  application  of 
logic  to  a  large  and  important  class  of  facts.     The  powers 


THE   FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       157 

of  thought  are  developed  by  studying  the  relations  of 
objects,  external  and  internal.  The  first  rank  far  below 
the  second  in  educational  value.  It  is  only  when  we  can 
employ  thought  upon  general  relations,  which  are  always 
abstract,  that  we  begin  to  unsense  or  ^materialize  the 
mind,  and  so  introduce  it  to  the  sphere  of  scientific  think- 
ing. The  best  meter  of  intellectual  power  is  one's  ability 
to  think  general  thoughts.  Nothing  is  more  characteristic 
of  the  immature  mind  than  the  habit  of  thinging — that  is, 
of  thinking  in  the  forms  of  sense-objects  or  things,  con- 
crete and  particular.  Power  of  abstract  thought  is  pro- 
moted most  directly  and  effectively,  as  Professor  Laurie 
says,  "  by  formal  or  abstract  studies,  such  as  arithmetic, 
mathematics,  grammar,  logic ;  and  this  because  the  occu- 
pation of  the  mind  with  the  abstract  is  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  the  occupation  of  the  mind  with  itself  as  an 
organism  of  thinking."  *  Grammar  is  indeed  the  only 
metaphysical  study  that  a  large  majority  of  people  ever 
pursue ;  and  if  that  would  be  a  defective  information 
which  ignored  the  facts  of  language,  a  fortiori  would  that 
be  a  defective  discipline  which  omitted  its  relations. 

Still  another  point  may  be  urged.  It  is  sometimes 
said  by  those  who  wish  to  distinguish  English  from  the 
highly  inflected  tongues,  that  it  is  a  grammarless  lan- 
guage. The  fact  is  rather  that  its  grammar  is  peculiar 
and  characteristic.  In  the  classical  languages,  relations 
are  generally  expressed  by  means  of  forms  called  "  end- 
ings," the  position  of  words  in  the  sentence  having  little  to 
do  with  meanings.  No  matter  in  what  order  we  place  the 
words  puer,  paellam,  amat,  in  a  sentence,  they  mean  the 
same  thing,  and  can  mean  nothing  else ;  while  the  corre- 
sponding English  words,  to  be  perfectly  clear,  must  stand 


*  Lectures  on  Linguistic  Method,  p 


158  .TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

in  one  certain  order.  The  Greek  and  Latin  constructions 
are,  so  to  speak,  framed  into  one  another  like  pieces  of 
timber  in  a  building,  and  it  is  either  hard  or  impossible  to 
mistake  the  principal  relations  of  the  sentence.  But  since 
thought  relations  in  English  are  so  largely  dependent  upon 
the  position  of  words  and  the  spirit  of  the  passage,  as 
compared  with  the  more  mechanical  languages,  its  gram- 
mar is  peculiarly  valuable  as  a  discipline.  As  one  has 
said,  "  The  grammar  of  English  is  a  very  subtle  grammar, 
and  its  usages,  if  difficult  to  register,  demand  all  the  more 
investigation  and  study."  This  pertinent  passage  is  from 
John  Stuart  Mill : 

"  Consider  for  a  moment  what  grammar  is.  It  is  the 
most  elementary  part  of  logic.  It  is  the  beginning  of  the 
analysis  of  the  thinking  process.  The  principles  and  rules 
of  grammar  are  the  means  by  which  the  forms  of  language 
are  made  to  correspond  with  the  universal  forms  of 
thought.  The  distinctions  between  the  various  parts  of 
speech,  between  the  cases  of  nouns,  the  moods  and  tenses 
of  verbs,  the  functions  of  particles,  are  distinctions  in 
thought,  not  merely  in  words.  Single  nouns  and  verbs 
express  objects  and  events,  many  of  which  can  be  cognised 
by  the  senses  ;  but  the  modes  of  putting  nouns  and  verbs 
together  express  the  relations  of  objects  and  events,  which 
can  be  cognised  only  by  the  intellect ;  and  each  different 
mode  corresponds  to  a  different  relation.  The  structure 
of  every  sentence  is  a  lesson  in  logic."  * 

It  is  in  the  line  of  discipline  that  Professor  Greene's 
reasons  for  "  studying  grammar,  or  rather  language  through 
the  structure  of  sentences,"  mainly  run,  e.  g. :  "Asa  sen- 
tence is  the  expression  of  a  thought,  and  as  the  elements 
of  a  sentence  are  expressions  for  the  elements  of  thought, 


*  Inaugural  Address  at  St.  Andrews. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.       159 

the  pupil  who  is  taught  to  separate  a  sentence  into  its  ele- 
ments is  learning  to  analyze  thought,  and  consequently  to 
think."  * 

3.  Grammar,  then,  is  the  logic  of  speech.  The  basis 
of  grammatical  analysis  is  logical  analysis.  Grammar  is 
the  form  that  logic  assumes  in  the  interpretation  or 
construction  of  language,  and  so  is  the  only  strictly 
logical  study  with  which  most  persons  who  attend  school 
ever  form  a  practical  acquaintance.  It  does  not  deal 
merely  with  single  words,  but  also  with  combinations  of 
words.  It  hinges  upon  relations,  no  matter  whether  these 
are  expressed  by  means  of  inflections  or  by  other  devices. 
In  fact,  grammar  is  in  some  respects  a  more  searching 
investigation  of  thought  than  logic  itself,  because  it  em- 
braces all  the  modifications  of  thought  expressed  in  the 
proposition,  while  logic  embraces  only  the  essential  rela- 
tions. Hence,  the  relations  of  grammar  to  all  kinds  of 
hermeneutics,  or  interpretation,  are  commonplaces.  Me- 
lanchthon  wrote,  "  Scripture  can  not  be  understood  theo- 
logically unless  it  is  understood  grammatically."  Luther 
held  that  true  theology  was  merely  an  application  of  gram- 
mar, and  Scaliger  maintained  that  ignorance  of  grammar 
was  the  cause  of  all  religious  differences.  And  so  in  juris- 
prudence the  legal  sense  of  language  is  the  grammatical 
sense.  Montaigne  even  expressed  the  opinion  that  most 
of  the  occasions  of  disturbance  in  the  world  are  gram- 
matical ones.  It  is  not  meant,  of  course,  that  a  great 
theologian,  or  a  great  jurist,  is  necessarily  a  great  technical 
grammarian,  any  more  than  that  he  is  necessarily  a  great 
formal  logician ;  the  meaning  is,  rather,  that  such  theolo- 
gian or  jurist  must  needs  be  a  master  of  those  methods 
or  habits  of  thought  which  constitute  the  foundation  of 


*  See  preface  to  his  English  Analysis. 


100  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

grammar  and  logic.  Still  less  is  it  meant  that  the  study 
of  grammar  can  take  the  place  of  native  capacity  for  in- 
terpretation ;  as  well  say  that  a  blind  man  can  use  a  tele- 
scope to  advantage  as  that  logic  is  a  substitute  for  power 
to  think. 

4.  In  a  previous  chapter  some  remarks  were  made 
about  etymologies  and  words  as  sources  of  history.  These 
topics  are  phases  of  historical  grammar,  which  has  come 
to  be  such  an  important  subject  of  investigation.  The 
Conference  on  English,  so  frequently  referred  to  in  these 
pages,  recommends  that,  in  the  high  school,  attention 
shall  be  paid  to  the  history  and  geography  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  so  far  as  these  illustrate  the  develop- 
ment of  the  English  language.*  Something  of  this  work 
can  be  well  done  if  made  sufficiently  elementary.  More- 
over, it  is  easy  to  connect  the  history  of  language  with 
history  in  general,  and  with  historical  geography,  which 
draws  so  largely  upon  language  and  is  so  fruitful  of  inter- 
est, f  The  extent  to  which  the  historical  and  compara- 
tive study  of  English  can  be  profitably  carried  on  will 
turn  largely,  of  course,  upon  the  extent  to  which  the 
pupil  enters  into  the  study  of  foreign  languages. 

5.  Thus  far  we  have  not  discovered  any  direct  prac- 
tical connection  between  the  study  of  English  grammar 
and  the  use  of  the  English  language.  It  may  be  fairly 
urged,  however,  that  any  activity  of  mind  which  enlists 
clear  thinking  is  sure  more  or  less  to  influence  the  lan- 
guage in  which  the  thinking  is  not  only  expressed,  but  in 
fact  carried  on.  Still  more,  such  effect  is  likely  to  be 
marked  when  the  subject-matter  of  thought  is  thought- 


*  Report  of  Committee  of  Ten,  pp.  91,  92. 

f  See  Taylor :  Names  and  Places ;   Blackie :  Historical  Geogra- 
phy ;  Hinsdale :  How  to  Study  and  Teach  History,  chaps,  xiii,  xiv. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       IQ{ 

processes  and  their  expression.  If  Dr.  Blair  is  right  in 
saying  that  learning  to  compose  with  accuracy  is  learning 
to  think  with  accuracy,  and  Professor  Greene  in  saying 
that  the  pupil  who  is  taught  to  separate  a  sentence  into 
its  elements  is  learning  to  analyze  thought,  and  so  to  think, 
— then,  conversely,  learning  to  think  and  to  analyze  are 
learning  to  compose.  Professor  Laurie  declares  the  prac- 
tical use  of  English  grammar  to  be,  first,  the  enabling  a 
pupil  the  better  to  grasp  the  language  of  literature ;  and, 
secondly,  the  enabling  him  better  to  express  his  own  expe- 
rience and  thoughts,  when  he  has  any  thoughts  to  express. 
He  also  contends  that  early  "  a  child  should,  by  the  help 
of  numerous  examples,  be  taught  to  recognise  the  subject 
and  the  predication  regarding  it — the  whole  logical  sub- 
ject, that  is  to  say,  and  the  whole  predicate — as  going  to 
constitute  a  sentence  or  proposition.  This  formal  condi- 
tion of  a  possible  sentence  can  not  only  be  taught  very 
early,  but  it  is  for  practical  reasons  desirable  to  teach  it 
early.  A  recognition  of  this  fundamental  fact  of  both 
grammar  and  logic  is  very  helpful  in  enabling  children  to 
understand  what  they  read,  and  to  express  what  they  de- 
sire to  express."  *  This  is  the  first  grammatical  fact  to 
be  taught — that  no  thought  can  be  expressed  unless  some- 
thing is  said  of  something ;  nor  can  this  fact  be  properly 
taught  without  the  development  of  some  skill  in  detect- 
ing these  essential  elements,  the  subject  and  the  predicate 
of  the  sentence. 

6.  The  idea  that  the  old  grammarians  put  first  has 
been  reserved  for  the  last,  viz.,  the  relation  of  the  study 
of  grammar  to  the  student's  use  of  the  vernacular. 

Professor  Whitney  says  that,  in  connection  with  special 
drill  looking  to  accuracy  and  force  in  the  use  of  speech, 

*  Lectures  on  Linguistic  Method,  p.  56. 


1G2  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

some  of  the  rudimentary  distinctions  and  rules  of  gram- 
mar are  conveniently  taught.  He  does  not  say  that  con- 
stant use  and  practice  will  make  good  speakers  and  writers, 
but  constant  use  and  practice  under  never-failing  watch 
and  correction.  The  application  of  direct  authority,  ho 
says,  is  the  most  efficient  corrective.  Three  things  are 
obvious :  that  watch  and  correction  are  essential ;  that 
there  must  be  a  standard  of  judgment;  and  that  this 
standard  must  at  first  be  furnished  by  a  living  agent  or 
other  example.  What  Mr.  Spencer  says  of  rhetoric  is  just 
as  true  of  grammar :  some  practical  result  may  be  expected 
from  a  familiarity  with  principles ;  the  endeavour  to  con- 
form to  laws  will  tell,  though  slowly ;  and  if  in  no  other 
way,  yet  as  facilitating  revision,  a  knowledge  of  the  thing 
to  be  achieved — a  clear  knowledge  of  what  is  accuracy  and 
what  is  inaccuracy — can  not  fail  to  be  of  service.  How 
much  room  there  is  for  the  exemplification  of  these  ideas 
in  teaching  English,  a  little  consideration  will  show. 

No  matter  how  good  one's  opportunities  to  acquire  the 
vernacular  in  childhood  may  be,  he  is  almost  certain  to 
form  some  erroneous  habits.  These  originate  partly  in 
imitation  and  partly  in  the  nature  of  our  language.  The 
idea  of  regularity  seizes  the  child's  mind  at  an  early  age. 
He  becomes  entangled  in  the  irregular  verbs,  and  in  the 
nouns  and  pronouns.  In  households  and  in  primary 
schools  such  errors  will  disappear  in  great  part  under  the 
discipline  of  correction,  but  not  wholly  so.  Few  persons 
can  be  found  who  do  not  need  that  discipline  of  self-criti- 
cism which  accompanies  the  study  of  grammar  when  prop- 
erly taught.  What  has  just  been  said  is  more  and  more 
applicable  as  we  descend  the  scale  of  intelligence  and  cul- 
tivation. A  great  majority  of  children  who  come  from 
homes  that  are  accounted  intelligent,  and  that  are  really 
so  measured  by  a  practical   standard,  bring  with  them 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.       163 

to  school  numerous  errors  of  pronunciation,  etymology, 
and  syntax,  to  say  nothing  of  spelling,  many  of  which  are 
downright  barbarisms  and  vulgarisms.  To  the  still  lower 
stratum  of  cultivation  we  do  not  need  to  go.  Now,  what 
can  be  done  for  these  children?  First,  those  agencies 
that  affect  language  unconsciously  must  be  stimulated; 
interest  the  child  in  good  conversation,  in  good  public 
discourse,  and  in  well-written  books,  thus  putting  him  in 
the  way  of  sloughing  off  or  growing  out  of  some  of  his 
bad  habits.  Secondly,  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  special 
drill  and  the  never-failing  watch  and  correction  of  which 
Professor  Whitney  speaks.  For  some  years  mere  authority 
must  prevail,  but  in  time  both  rule  and  reason  will  play 
their  part.  Criticism  will  tend  to  impair  somewhat  that 
spontaneity  which  is  essential  to  good  expression,  whether 
in  talking,  reading,  or  writing ;  but  it  will  not  answer  to 
allow  bad  grammar  to  run  riot  in  the  name  of  sponta- 
neity. The  critical  faculty  should  be  keenly  stimulated, 
involving  the  two  elements  of  observation  and  correction. 
Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the  most  helpful  criticism 
is  self-criticism,  although  it  may  not  begin  there. 

Something  should  be  said  of  the  correction  of  false 
syntax.  Language  is  so  largely  a  matter  of  imitation  that 
it  is  folly  to  set  persons  who  are  forming  their  linguistic 
habits  to  correct  errors  to  which  they  are  not  exposed. 
The  current  mode  of  teaching  orthography  is  by  way 
of  the  form-image  presented  to  the  eye ;  written  spelling 
is  the  vogue,  and  it  is  accounted  bad  practice  to  use 
copy  that  will  serve  to  print  false  pictures  on  the  mind. 
In  learning  to  speak  the  vernacular,  the  sound-image  is 
the  great  agent,  and  this  is  subject  to  the  limitation  before 
stated.  The  application  of  this  principle  to  false  syntax 
is  obvious.  No  doubt  these  exercises,  when  intelligently 
conducted,  tend  to  make  the  pupil  observant  and  critical, 


164  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

but  they  may  also  tend  to  propagate  the  very  errors  that 
are  corrected.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  work  is 
often  unintelligible ;  the  pupil  assumes  that  an  example 
is  faulty  because  it  is  found  in  bad  company,  and  then 
guesses  at  the  correction.  Correction  of  bad  syntax  and 
of  bad  etymology  should  therefore  be  limited  to  errors  to 
which  the  pupil  is  addicted  or  exposed.  Keal  life  will 
furnish  the  teacher  an  abundance  of  the  very  best  material ; 
book  "  false  syntax,"  to  put  it  mildly,  is  of  doubtful  utility 
in  the  case  of  pupils  who  are  studying  grammar  for  a 
practical  purpose. 

Such  are  the  reasons  that  may  be  assigned  for  teach- 
ing grammar  in  elementary  schools.  Obviously,  the  ad- 
vantages set  forth  can  be  attained  only  when  the  teacher 
intelligently  answers  the  questions  :  When  ?  How  much  ? 
What  method  ?  Professor  Laurie  contends  that  the  method 
of  procedure  must  be  real. 

"  To  be  of  any  utility,  either  as  a  discipline,  or  as 
training,  or  as  knowledge,  grammar  and  rhetoric  have 
to  be  studied  through  examples.  Grammar  has  to  be 
studied  in  and  through  sentences,  and  to  be  extracted 
from  sentences  by  the  pupil,  if  it  is  to  be  really  taught ; 
and  so  also  rhetoric  has  to  be  studied  in  and  through  the 
masterpieces  of  literature,  and  extracted  from  them,  if  it 
is  to  be  really  taught.  This  last  sentence,  indeed,  sums  up 
the  true  significance  of  the  Eevival  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  in  the  department  of  education."  * 

Dean  Colet,  the  founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  had  said 
the  same  thing  in  substance  long  before. 

"  In  the  beginning  men  spake  not  Latin  because  such 
[grammatical]  rules  were  made,  but,  contrariwise,  because 
men  spake  such  Latin,  upon  that  followed  the  rules,  and 

*  Lectures  on  Linguistic  Method,  p.  73. 


THE  FUNCTION   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR.       165 

were  made.  That  is  to  say,  Latin  speech  was  before  the 
rules,  and  not  the  rules  before  the  Latin  speech.  Where- 
fore, well-beloved  masters  and  teachers  of  grammar,  after 
the  parts  of  speech  sufficiently  known  in  our  schools,  read 
and  expound  plainly  unto  your  scholars  good  authors,  and 
show  to  them  [in]  every  word,  and  in  every  sentence, 
what  they  shall  note  and  observe,  warning  them  busily  to 
follow  and  do  like  both  in  writing  and  in  speaking ;  and 
be  to  them  your  own  self  also  speaking  with  them  the 
pure  Latin  very  present,  and  leave  the  rules ;  for  reading 
of  good  books,  diligent  information  of  learned  masters, 
studious  advertence  and  taking  heed  of  learners,  hearing 
eloquent  men  speak,  and  finally,  busy  imitation  with 
tongue  and  pen,  more  availeth  shortly  to  get  the  true  elo- 
quent speech,  than  all  the  traditions,  rules,  and  precepts 
of  masters."  * 

A  few  hints  and  suggestions  as  to  method  will  be 
added. 

1.  Formal  or  technical  grammar  is  an  abstract,  meta- 
pl^sical  study,  and  the  pupil  should  not  enter  upon  it  at 
too  early  an  age.  If  he  does,  the  time  so  spent  is  wholly 
or  mainly  lost,  and  future  interest  is  impaired  or  alto- 
gether killed.  Language  exercises  should  form  the  regu- 
lar approach  to  grammar. 

2.  The  two  main  elements  of  the  sentence  may  be 
taught  in  the  fifth  school  year.  That  is,  the  child  should 
be  taught  that  every  sentence  has  such  elements,  that  they 
perform  such  and  such  functions,  that  there  can  be  no 
sentence  without  them,  that  they  form  its  framework  or 
skeleton ;  and  in  addition  he  should  be  taught  to  point 
out  the  subjects  and  predicates  of  simple  sentences.  To 
centre  the  young  mind  on  the  subject  and  the  predicate 

*  Quoted  by  Quick  :  Educational  Reformers,  pp.  533,  534. 
13 


166  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

as  the  two  things  that  are  essential  to  the  expression  of 
thought,  is  an  important  step  in  education. 

3.  In  the  sixth  year  the  larger  features  of  the  doctrine 
of  modifiers  may  be  taught  and  illustrated ;  also  the  prin- 
cipal parts  of  speech — the  noun,  the  verb,  the  pronoun, 
the  adjective,  and  the  adverb — and  the  pupil  be  required 
to  practise  upon  suitable  examples.  No  book  should  be 
used,  nothing  need  be  said  about  grammar,  and  the  work 
should  be  affiliated  with  the  language  lessons. 

4.  Formal  grammar  with  a  text-book  should  begin 
with  the  seventh  year.  Etymology  should  first  be  taken 
up,  if  the  sentence  has  been  previously  taught  as  recom- 
mended ;  if  no  attention  has  been  given  to  the  sentence, 
then  the  work  should  begin  with  analysis  as  before,  but 
should  proceed  more  rapidly. 

5.  For  a  time  parsing  and  analysis  should  conform  to 
definite  models.  This  will  secure  regularity  and  thorough 
treatment.  Afterward  the  two  processes  may  be  carried 
on  more  rapidly,  dwelling  only  on  the  more  difficult 
points.  When  a  certain  stage  has  been  reached  it  is  sheer 
waste  of  time  to  require  a  pupil  to  parse  articles,  to  com- 
pare adjectives,  to  decline  pronouns,  and  wearisomely  to 
go  through  a  prescribed  formula  even  in  handling  the 
important  etymological  elements.  The  same  may  be  said 
about  analysis.  Omit  the  nine  questions  that  all  can 
answer,  and  ask  the  tenth  one  that  tests  the  knowledge  of 
the  class.  In  the  high  school,  especially,  a  few  questions 
skilfully  directed  will  often  lay  open  the  whole  structure 
of  a  sentence,  and  thus  enable  the  class  to  move  on.  To 
guard  against  possible  misapprehension,  it  may  be  well  to 
say  explicitly  that  parsing  has  an  educational  value.  Pu- 
pils should  be  taught  the  facts  and  relations  that  are  ex- 
pressed by  inflections  and  by  position,  and  the  best  way 
to  do  it  is  to  require  them  to  describe  the  words,  telling 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.       167 

what  they  are  and  naming  their  properties,  for  that  is 
what  parsing  is.  Observation  and  reflection  are  also  cul- 
tivated. 

6.  Some  pupils  tend  to  think  that  the  world  of  gram- 
mar is  an  unreal  world,  invented  by  authors  and  teachers 
to  confuse  and  distract  them.  Hence  it  is  important,  as 
Professor  Laurie  says,  that  the  method  shall  be  as  real  as 
possible.  Emphasize  the  fact  that  grammar  deals  with 
real  things  and  is  not  artificial.  Good  grammatical  defi- 
nitions and  rules  express  facts  just  as  much  as  the  defini- 
tions and  rules  of  mathematics  or  physics ;  and  to  teach 
grammar  is  to  teach  these  facts.  Nowhere  is  it  more 
important  than  here  to  prevent  the  pupil  from  filling  his 
mind  with  mere  words.  Verbal  knowledge  about  material 
facts  is  bad  enough ;  verbal  knowledge  about  words  and 
sentences  is  even  worse.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  use 
the  pupil's  own  original  sentences,  as  it  serves  to  make 
the  work  more  real. 

7.  In  teaching  grammar  to  elementary  pupils  no  time 
should  be  given  to  controverted  points  or  really  difficult 
points;  the  discussion  of  idiomatic  constructions  is  wholly 
out  of  place;  instruction  should  deal  only  with  what  is 
plain  and  simple,  or  at  least  relatively  so.  In  the  high 
school  more  difficult  work  may  be  entered  upon  ;  but  even 
here  it  will  be  waste  of  time  to  crack  the  hard  gram- 
matical nuts  that  so  much  delight  the  experts.  Such 
work  belongs  to  a  more  mature  state  of  mental  devel- 
opment. 

8.  The  first  sentences  that  are  chosen  for  analysis  should 
be  isolated  as  well  as  easy  ones.  If  not,  the  pupil  is  likely 
to  become  confused  and  to  miss  his  way.  But  in  the 
eighth  grade,  and  still  more  in  the  high  school,  real  litera- 
ture should  be  used  as  material.  In  this  way  pupils  will 
get  a  much-needed  lesson  in  the  continuity  of  thought, 


368  TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

and  in  that  larger  grammatical  structure  which  extends 
beyond  the  sentence,  while  grammar  will  be  relieved  of 
something  of  its  barrenness.  A  connection  should  be  es- 
tablished between  grammar  and  literature  and  reading. 
Some  literary  questions  should  be  introduced  into  the  ex- 
ercises and  examination  papers.  Instead  of  putting  down 
one  or  two  disconnected  sentences  to  be  analyzed  and 
parsed,  place  before  the  class  a  paragraph  of  prose  or  two 
or  more  stanzas  of  verse.  The  kind  of  exercise  here 
recommended  will  show  pupils  that  analysis  is  the  great 
instrument  of  interpretation. 

One  important  question  is  left  unanswered,  save  as 
the  answer  is  involved  in  what  has  been  said.  This  is 
the  question  :  What  should  be  taught  for  grammar  ?  In 
its  details,  the  subject  is  much  too  large  for  this  place. 

Some  examples  of  grammatical  questions  that  go  to 
the  heart  of  a  composition  will  be  found  in  illustrative 
exercises  at  the  close  of  previous  chapters.  A  further 
exercise  is  given  in  this  place. 

Stanzas  from  Tennyson's  Ode  on  the  Death  of 
the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

1. 

Bury  the  Great  Duke 

With  an  empire's  lamentation, 

Let  us  bury  the  Great  Duke 

To  the  noise  of  the  mourning  of  a  mighty  nation, 

Mourning  when  their  leaders  fall, 

Warriors  carry  the  warrior's  pall, 

And  sorrow  darkens  hamlet  and  hall. 

2. 

Where  shall  we  lay  the  man  whom  we  deplore  f 
Here,  in  streaming  London's  central  roar. 
\  Let  the  sound  of  those  he  wrought  for, 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.       169 

And  the  feet  of  those  he  fought  for, 
Echo  round  his  bones  for  evermore. 

3. 

Lead  out  the  pageant :  sad  and  slow, 

As  fits  an  universal  woe, 

Let  the  long,  long  procession  go, 

And  let  the  sorrowing  crowd  about  it  grow, 

And  let  the  mournful  martial  music  blow  ; 

The  last  great  Englishman  is  low. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  is  buried  in  St.  Paul's,  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  London.  These  questions  may  be 
asked : — 

1.  What  empire  is  meant?  What  is  an  empire's 
lamentation  ?  Explain  line  6,  stanza  1.  Explain  "  ham- 
let and  hall."  Why  is  London  called  "streaming"? 
What  is  meant  by  the  "  feet  echoing,"  etc.  ?  What  is  a 
pageant  ? 

2.  Analyze  the  sentences  of  stanza  2. 

3.  Give  case  and  construction  of  "  Great  Duke,"  line 
1,  "  us,"  line  3,  "  pall,"  line  6,  stanza  1 ;  "  whom,"  "  Lon- 
don's," and  "  bones,"  in  stanza  2. 

4.  What  parts  of  speech  is  "  mourning  "  in  lines  4  and 
5,  first  stanza  ? 

5.  Parse  "  warriors "  and  "  warrior's "  in  line  6  of 
same  stanza. 

6.  What  modes  is  "  bury  "  in  lines  1  and  3  ? 

7.  What  parts  of  speech  are  "  sad  "  and  "  slow  "  in  line 
1,  stanza  3  ? 

8.  Give  the  principal  parts  of  the  verbs  in  the  last 
stanza  ? 

This  exercise  is  not  above  the  eighth  grade,  provided 
the  pupils  have  been  properly  taught.  How  many  ques- 
tions shall  be   asked,  and  how  extended  a   passage  shall 


170  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

form  the  basis  of  the  exercise,  are  questions  of  judgment 
for  the  teacher  to  answer,  in  which  the  strength  of  the 
pupils  and  the  length  of  time  that  can  be  used  will  be 
controlling  factors.  When  pupils  are  ready  for  such  work 
as  this,  it  is  sheer  folly  to  keep  them  grinding  in  the  old- 
fashioned  mill  of  analysis  and  parsing. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF   RHETORIC. 

f 

The  history  of  rhetoric  shows  quite  as  much  con- 
trariety of  view  on  the  part  of  writers  as  to  the  nature  and 
scope  of  the  subject  as  the  history  of  grammar.  A  slight 
resume  will  answer  our  purpose. 

Aristotle,  author  of  the  first  systematic  treatise  on  the 
subject  that  has  come  down  to  us,  delivers  this  definition : 
"  A  faculty  of  considering  all  the  possible  means  of  per- 
suasion on  every  subject."*  He  first  inquires  into  the 
means  employed  in  persuasion,  and  then  treats  of  arrange- 
ment, style,  and  delivery.  Quintilian,  foremost  of  the 
Latin  writers,  considers  rhetoric,  oratory,  and  eloquence  as 
the  same  thing,  and  gives  this  definition  :  "  Oratory  is  the 
art  of  speaking  well."  \  Dr.  Campbell,  like  Quintilian, 
considers  rhetoric  and  eloquence  as  coextensive.  "  The 
word  ■  eloquence,'  in  its  greatest  latitude,"  he  says,  "  de- 
notes *  that  art  or  talent  by  which  the  discourse  is  adapted 
to  its  end.'  "  % 

Dr.  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Belles-Lettres, 
which  was  once  more  generally  used  in  English  and 
American  schools  than  any  other  text-book  on  its  sub- 
ject, contains  no  definition.  Dr.  Whately's  Elements  of 
Rhetoric    is    consistently   built    up   on   this    definition : 

*  Book  I,  chap.  ii.  f  Ibid,  II,  chap.  xv. 

%  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  Book  I,  chap.  i. 

171 


172  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

"The  finding  of  suitable  arguments  to  prove  a  given 
point,  and  the  skilful  arrangement  of  them,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  immediate  and  proper  province  of  rhetoric, 
and  of  that  alone."  * 

These  definitions  are   all   in   terms  of  art.     Still,  it 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  books  from 
which  they  are  taken  all  conform  to  that  view  of  the 
subject.      Aristotle's   Rhetoric   is    thoroughly    scientific, 
although  not  lacking  in  rules  and  practical  suggestions. 
Quintilian's  Institutes,  while  not  destitute  of  principles, 
is  rather  a  book  of  methods  and  practical  suggestions. 
"  Who  is  so  destitute  of  common  sense,"  he  asks,  "  as 
to  imagine  that  the  work  of   building,  or  weaving,  or 
moulding  vessels  out  of  clay  is  an  art,  but  that  oratory, 
the   greatest   and   noblest   of   works,  has   attained   such 
a  height  of  excellence  without  being  an  art  ?  "  f     Still, 
it  must  be  said  that  the  question  in  his  mind  is  not  so 
much  a  discrimination  between  art  and  science  as  it  is 
between  artistic  oratory  and  natural  oratory.     Quintilian 
treated  the  subject  so  broadly  as  to  become  a  conspicuous 
example  of  those  ancient  writers  who,  according  to  Dr. 
Whately,  "  thought  it  necessary  to  include,  as  belonging 
to  the  art,  everything  that  could  conduce  to  the  attain- 
ment  of   the    object  proposed,"   and   "introduced    into 
their  systems  treatises  on  law,  morals,  politics,  etc.,  on 
the    ground    that    a    knowledge    of    these    subjects   was 
requisite  to  enable  a  man  to  speak  well  on  them  ;  and 
even  insisted   on  virtue  as  an  essential  qualification  of 
a  perfect  orator."  \     Dr.  Campbell's  title,  Philosophy  of 
Rhetoric,  suggests  a  scientific  treatise,  and   such  is  the 
character  of  his  very  able  book.     Dr.   Blair  says  if  his 


*  Part  I,  chap.  ii.  t  Book  IT,  chap,  xvii,  3. 

f  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  Introduction. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RHETORIC.  173 

work  has  any  merit  it  will  consist  in  an  endeavour  to  sub- 
stitute the  application  of  the  principles  of  reason  and 
good  sense  in  the  place  of  artificial  and  scholastic  rhet- 
oric* The  same  may  be  said  of  Dr.  Whately's  Ele- 
ments as  of  Dr.  Campbell's  Philosophy  ;  the  treatment 
is  scientific.  Something  of  this  confusion  of  thought  and 
practice  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  sense  of  the  term  "  art " 
bequeathed  by  antiquity  to  modern  times  that  has  been 
remarked  upon.  Still,  it  would  be  wrong  to  suppose 
that  such  writers  as  Campbell  and  Whately  did  not  see 
the  distinction. 

The  authors  of  the  text-books  in  current  use  tend 
decidedly  to  follow  the  old  model.  One  prolific  writer 
defines  rhetoric  as  "  the  art  of  efficient  communication." 
"  It  is  the  art,"  he  says,  "  to  the  principles  of  which,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  a  good  writer  or  speaker  must 
conform."  This  definition  is  found  in  a  book  entitled 
The  Principles  of  Rhetoric.  Moreover,  the  author  de- 
fends his  definition  by  saying  that  rhetoric  "  is  an  art, 
not  a  science  ;  for  it  neither  observes,  nor  discovers,  nor 
classifies  ;  but  it  shows  how  to  convey  from  one  mind  to 
another  the  results  of  observation,  discovery,  or  classifica- 
tion ;  it  uses  knowledge,  not  as  knowledge,  but  as  pow- 
er." f  Yes ;  but  rhetoric  does  observe,  discover,  and  clas- 
sify its  own  processes.  Another  popular  writer  gives  us 
the  following  definition  :  "  Rhetoric,  therefore,  is  the  art 
of  expressing  one's  thoughts  with  skill,  of  giving  to  one's 
composition  the  qualities  that  it  ought  to  have  in  order  to 
accomplish  its  author's  design."  %  And  such  is  the  gen- 
eral tenor  of  this  class  of  works.  * 


*  Lecture  i. 

f  A.  S.  Hill :  The  Principles  of  Rhetoric,  Introduction. 
X  Genung  :  Outlines  of  Rhetoric,  Introduction. 

*  Dr.  D.  J.  Hill  observes  that  the  rhetorical  process  is  complete 


174  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

Now,  with  all  deference  to  authority,  we  may  say  that 
there  are  plainly  three  points  of  view  from  which  rhetoric 
may  be  considered,  as  follows  : — 

1.  It  is  a  science  :  it  is  occupied  with  the  principles 
that  underlie  the  expression  of  thought  by  means  of  lan- 
guage. These  principles  are  laws  of  the  human  mind ; 
they  are  discovered  by  psychological  analysis  of  the  mind, 
and  are  confirmed  by  the  study  of  literary  masterpieces. 

2.  It  is  an  art  in  the  reflective  sense  of  that  term  :  it 
lays  down  the  rules,  precepts,  or  methods  that  govern  the 
expression  of  thought  by  means  of  language.  These  rules 
are  deduced  from  the  corresponding  principles. 

3.  Rhetoric  is  also  practice  or  exercise  in  the  expres- 
sion of  thought.  Moreover,  this  is  the  original  significa- 
tion of  the  word. 

Slight  examination  of  the  text-books  on  rhetoric  in 
current  use  suffices  to  show  that  they  contain  matter  which 
falls  under  every  one  of  these  heads.  They  are  partly  sci- 
entific and  partly  practical ;  they  contain  some  principles 
or  laws,  some  rules  or  precepts,  some  exercises  or  practical 
lessons.  They  are  therefore  a  compound  of  science  and 
of  art  under  both  aspects  of  art. 

We  come  now  to  the  real  subject  of  the  present  chap- 
ter. This  is  the  educational  worth  of  rhetoric  as  taught, 
or  as  it  should  be  taught,  in  schools.  As  everything  that 
needs  to  be  said  of  the  primal  value  of  exercises  in  corn- 
only  when  the  ideas  of  the  speaker  or  writer  are  "  referred  to  the 
pre-existing  ideas  of  the  person  addressed  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  will  affect  the  desired  change."  "All  mental  changes,"  he 
says,  "  take  place  in  accordance  with  certain  laws,"  and  then  pro. 
pounds  this  definition:  "As  an  art,  rhetoric  communicates  ideas 
according  to  these  laws ;  as  a  science,  it  discovers  and  establishes 
these  laws.  Rhetoric  is  therefore  the  science  of  the  laws  of  effective 
discourse." — (The  Science  of  Rhetoric,  Introduction.) 


THE  FUNCTION   OF  RHETORIC.  175 

position  has  been  said  already,  we  may  confine  our  atten- 
tion to  principles  and  rules,  with  incidental  remarks  on 
the  third  topic. 

As  mental  disciplines  the  science  and  the  art  of  rhet- 
oric have  the  same  kind  of  value  as  the  other  studies 
belonging  to  the  philosophic  group.  They  stimulate  ob- 
servation and  analysis.  They  deal  with  the  philosophy 
of  effective  expression  by  means  of  language.  They  take 
hold  both  of  thought  and  of  the  medium  by  which  it  is 
conveyed.  Rhetoric  deals  with  the  universal  element  of 
expression;  or,  as  Aristotle  says,  "It  is  conversant,  not 
with  any  one  distinct  class  of  subjects,  but  like  logic  [is 
of  universal  applicability]  " ;  or  again,  "  Its  business  is 
not  absolute  persuasion,  but  to  consider  on  every  subject 
what  means  of  persuasion  are  inherent  in  it."  *  Hence, 
psychological  elements  are  involved. 

It  has  been  contended  that  rhetoric  is  a  valuable  moral 
discipline.  This  is  a  favourite  view  of  Quintilian,  who  re- 
turns to  it  again  and  again.  He  insists  that  virtue  is  an 
element  of  oratory.  If-  it  be  objected  that  a  vicious  man 
may  succeed  in  an  exordium,  a  statement  of  facts,  or  a 
series  of  arguments,  he  replies  that  so  a  robber  may  show 
the  virtue  of  fortitude  and  a  slave  the  virtue  of  endur- 
ance, f  Dr.  Whately  corrects  Quintilian's  exaggerated 
view,  saying  that  building  materials  are  no  part  of  archi- 
tecture, although  it  is  impossible  to  build  without  them, 
or  subject-matter  a  part  of  rhetoric  because  there  can  be 
no  speech  or  writing  without  it;  and  "that  though  virtue 
and  the  good  reputation  it  procures  add  materially  to  the 
speaker's  influence,  they  are  no  more  to  be,  for  that  rea- 
son, considered  as  belonging  to  the  orator  as  such  than 
wealth,  rank,  or  a  good  person,  which  manifestly  have  a 

*  Book  I,  chap.  ii.  f  Book  II,  chap.  ii. 


176  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

tendency  to  procure  the  same  effect."  *  The  real  question 
lies  deeper  :  it  is  the  relation  of  aesthetics  and  ethics,  and 
will  be  touched  in  the  ensuing  paragraph. 

Rhetoric  is  a  culture  study  as  well  as  a  disciplinary 
one.  It  fits  the  mind  for  the  keener  and  more  rational 
enjoyment  of  works  of  rhetorical  art.  While  the  enjoy- 
ments of  taste — the  sentiment  of  the  beautiful  as  an  abso- 
lute quality — is  native  to  the  mind,  these  enjoyments  are 
greatly  strengthened  and  elevated  by  cultivation.  The 
notion  that  there  is  a  universal  standard  of  taste  is  a  part 
of  that  sentimental  view  of  human  nature  which  came  in 
with  Rousseau.  The  rustic  who  said  the  paint  on  Rosa 
Bonheur's  Horse  Fair  could  not  have  cost  more  than 
ten  francs  had  not  studied  aesthetics.  On  the  negative 
side  the  argument  is  equally  convincing.  Men  can  not 
constantly  follow  their  chosen  vocations,  but  must  have 
avocations  as  well.  Answering  the  question,  How  shall 
the  vacant  spaces  in  life  be  filled  up  ?  Dr.  Blair  says  that 
it  can  not  be  done  more  agreeably  in  itself,  and  more  con- 
sistently with  the  dignity  of  the  human  mind,  than  in  the 
entertainments  of  taste  and  the  study  of  literature.  "  He 
who  is  so  happy  as  to  have  acquired  a  relish  for  these  has 
always  at  hand  an  innocent  and  irreproachable  amusement 
for  his  leisure  hours,  to  save  him  from  the  danger  of  many 
a  pernicious  passion.  He  is  not  in  hazard  of  being  a  dan- 
ger to  himself.  He  is  not  obliged  to  fly  low  company  or 
to  court  the  rest  of  loose  pleasures  in  order  to  cure  the 
tediousness  of  existence."  f  The  tapping  of  the  fountains 
of  the  higher  enjoyments — the  opening  up  of  the  nobler 
tastes — is  a  godsend  to  any  person,  and  particularly  to  any 
one  who  tends  toward  coarse  pleasures. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  reasons  assigned  above  for 

*  Introduction.  f  Lecture  I. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RHETORIC.  177 

the  study  of  rhetoric  will  not  prove  very  convincing  to 

many  minds.     At  least,  we  must  boldly  face  the  question 

that  the  typical  American  puts  to  everything,  "What  is  its 

practical  value  ?  "     The  question  may  be  subdivided  :  Is 

literary  and  oratorical  skill  desirable  or  not  ?     Does  the 

study  of  rhetoric  conduce  to  the  gaining  of  such  skill,  and 

if  so,  to  what  extent?     Fortunately,  the  second  question 

is  the  only  one  that  we  need  to  consider. 

The  confidence  with  which  the  old  writers  laid  down 

their  rules  is  well  known  to  all  persons  who  have  read 

their  books.     Butler's  well-known  lines — 

"  All  a  rhetorician's  rules 
Teach  him  but  to  name  his  tools  " — 

express  the  sceptical  view  of  their  value.  At  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  opinion  of  many  teachers  and  critics  of 
education  runs  in  this  direction.  Let  us  see  if  we  can 
discover  where  the  truth  lies. 

The  rules  of  rhetoric  are  of  two  kinds,  mechanical 
and  psychological.  The  rules  for  capitalization  plainly 
belong  to  the  first  class.-  There  is  a  mental  convenience, 
to  be  sure,  in  some  of  them,  as  the  one  that  requires  a 
sentence  to  begin  with  a  capital  letter ;  but  this  rational 
element  is  so  slight  that  we  may  drop  it  out  of  sight  al- 
together. These  rules  are  plainly  conventional.  Much 
the  same  may  be  said  of  punctuation.  A  punctuation 
scheme  is  mechanical  but  extremely  convenient.  It  is, 
indeed,  based  on  the  articulations  of  thought,  and  re- 
quires clear  insight,  but  this  does  not  remove  the  subject 
from  the  mechanical  category.  Again,  the  rule  that 
limits  the  use  of  words  to  the  idiom  of  the  language  is 
also  conventional.  If  it  be  said  that  the  use  of  domestic 
words  rather  than  foreign  ones,  or  of  live  words  in  prefer- 
ence to  dead  ones,  consults  economy  of  effort,  we  may 
reply  that  the  inhibition  of  slang  is  often  enforced  at  the 


178  TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

cost  of  energy.  Purity  of  diction  rests  on  the  conven- 
tionalities of  speech,  and  can  never  be  absolutely  secured 
in  a  living  language. 

Now,  it  must  be  clear  to  everybody  that  some  mechan- 
ical rules  are  indispensable  to  correct  writing.  It  is  not 
permitted  even  to  genius  to  capitalize  and  punctuate  just 
as  it  pleases,  or  not  at  all.  Such  rules  make  up  the  tech- 
nique of  composition.  Still  further,  powerful  as  imita- 
tion is,  no  one  will  learn  through  it  the  arts  of  capitaliza- 
tion and  punctuation.  There  must  be  rules,  practice,  and 
criticism.  These  rules  may  be  furnished  by  a  teacher 
rather  than  a  book,  but  that  makes  no  difference. 
Neither  will  imitation  be  found  an  effectual  safeguard 
even  in  respect  to  purity  of  diction.  Some  forbidden 
words  are  likely  to  find  their  way  into  the  vocabulary  of 
the  best-bred  boys  and  girls,  while  an  abundance  will  flow 
into  the  vocabulary  of  the  majority.  Hence  the  ques- 
tion, "  How  shall  the  barbarisms,  and  especially  the  slang, 
that  infest  popular  speech  be  kept  out  of  the  written 
style  of  schoolboys  and  schoolgirls  ?  "  I  have  strongly 
recommended  the  constant  use  of  good  literature  as  a 
catharsis  in  English.  Still,  something  more  is  necessary 
than  merely  to  get  pupils  as  far  as  possible  to  read  good 
books  and  hear  good  conversations,  important  as  these 
things  are ;  there  must  be,  as  before,  a  resort  to  faithful 
correction.  Experience  shows  that  the  pupil  is  little 
likely  wholly  to  grow  off  his  more  inveterate  faults,  and 
resort  must  be  had  to  the  pruning  knife. 

The  psychological  elements  of  rhetoric  are  facts  of 
the  human  mind.  Such  are  the  rules  for  propriety  and 
precision  of  diction  ;  they  directly  affect  a  writer's  effi- 
ciency, for  if  words  are  used  in  strange  senses,  or  if  they 
mean  more  or  less  than  the  writer  means,  the  reader  is 
thrown  into  confusion.    Imitation  is  the  mainstay  in  secnr- 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RHETORIC.  179 

ing  these  qualities,  but  it  alone  will  not  prove  effectual. 
Again,  the  rules  prescribed  for  the  construction  of  sen- 
tences are  purely  psychological.  Imitation  is  here  less 
powerful  than  in  matters  that  are  more  mechanical,  and 
more  depends  upon  the  writer's  creative  faculties.  It  is 
manifest,  for  example,  that  the  writer  who  has  had  his 
mind  centred  on  the  rule  for  unity  is  a  much  more  com- 
petent critic  of  his  own  composition  or  of  the  composition 
of  another  than  the  writer  who  has  not  had  such  training ; 
and  that  his  criticisms,  if  persisted  in,  will  favourably  affect 
his  own  style.  To  be  more  definite,  it  will  hardly  be  denied 
that  the  student  who  has  grasped  the  precept  that  changes 
of  the  central  subject  of  thought  in  a  sentence  destroy 
unity  is  more  likely  to  keep  his  eye  on  this  quality  than 
the  student  who  has  not  done  so.  Similar  reasoning  will 
hold  of  all  the  other  essential  proprieties  of  style.  Study 
of  the  rule  will  secure  a  more  careful  thinking-out  of  the 
matter,  and  so  better  sentences.  In  numerous  places  I 
have  laid  stress  on  freedom  and  spontaneity  in  writing. 
What  is  here  said  of  rules  does  not  conflict  with  that  doc- 
trine ;  for  the  beneficial  effect  of  criticism  flows  into  stvle 
through  unconscious  cerebration.  It  is  in  this  way  that 
a  second  nature  is  created. 

The  current  text-books  give  much  space  to  figures  of 
speech,  and  we  may  well  consider  that  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject. However,  the  only  question  that  we  need  to  answer 
isj  whether  the  writer  who  studies  rhetoric  will  handle  his 
figures  better  than  the  writer  who  does  not. 

First,  it  is  clear  that  the  definitions  of  figures  express 
facts  of  the  mind.  The  mind  affirms  the  likeness  and 
the  sameness  of  things  different ;  it  delights  in  sharp  con- 
trasts and  in  brief  pointed  sayings ;  it  attributes  life  to 
what  is  dead  and  brings  the  absent  into  its  presence ;  it 
uses   the   name   of  one  thing  for  another,  and  also  ex- 


180  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

changes  the  whole  and  the  part.  Is  the  careful  discrimi- 
nation of  one  of  these  figures  from  another,  as  simile 
from  metaphor,  or  synecdoche  from  metonomy,  of  prac- 
tical utility  in  the  expression  of  thought?  It  may  be 
answered  that  in  respect  to  nothing  is  the  young  and  am- 
bitious writer  of  an  active  imagination  more  likely  to  go 
astray  than  in  respect  to  figures.  Still  further,  such  a 
writer  can  hardly  fail  to  derive  advantage  from  a  clearer 
thinking  out  of  the  doctrine  of  figures  and  the  definitions 
of  the  leading  figures  separately.  He  may  not  think 
"  personification  "  or  "  metaphor  "  as  he  writes,  but  his 
thinking  will  influence  his  writing  nevertheless.  Still 
more  may  be  claimed  for  the  rules  relating  to  figures. 
The  exuberant  writer  needs  the  discipline  of  good  criti- 
cism as  well  as  the  influence  of  good  models.  And  criti- 
cism always  means  rules.  Keference  may  be  made  to  the 
rules  in  regard  to  basing  figures  on  distant  resemblances, 
to  putting  two  or  more  metaphors  in  one  sentence,  and 
the  overcrowding  and  mixing  up  of  figures  in  general. 

Let  us  take  a  broader  view  of  the  subject.  In  his 
well-known  essay  entitled  The  Philosophy  of  Style,  Her- 
bert Spencer  finds  the  causes  of  force  in  language  in  the 
principle  of  economy  of  the  mental  energies  and  sensi- 
bilities. After  quoting  some  of  the  familiar  adages,  as 
that  long  sentences  fatigue  the  reader,  parentheses  and 
involved  constructions  should  be  avoided,  and  Saxon- 
English  words  should  be  preferred  to  Latin-English,  he 
thus  states  the  principle  that  explains  them  : 

"  On  seeking  for  some  clue  to  the  law  underlying 
these  current  maxims,  we  may  see  shadowed  forth  in 
many  of  them  the  importance  of  economizing  the  reader's 
or  hearer's  attention.  To  so  present  ideas  that  they  may 
be  apprehended  with  the  least  possible  mental  effort  is 
the  desideratum  toward  which  most  of  the  rules  above 


THE   FUNCTION  OF  RHETORIC.  181 

quoted  point.  "When  we  condemn  writing  that  is  wordy, 
or  confused,  or  intricate — when  we  praise  this  style  as 
easy,  and  blame  that  as  fatiguing — we  consciously  or  un- 
consciously assume  this  desideratum  as  our  standard  of 
judgment.  Kegarding  language  as  an  apparatus  of  sym- 
bols for  the  conveyance  of  thought,  we  may  say  that,  as  in 
a  mechanical  apparatus,  the  more  simple  and  the  better 
arranged  its  parts,  the  greater  will  be  the  effect  produced. 
In  either  case,  whatever  force  is  absorbed  by  the  machine 
is  deducted  from  the  result.  A  reader  or  listener  has  at 
each  moment  but  a  limited  amount  of  mental  power 
available.  To  recognise  and  interpret  the  symbols  pre- 
sented to  him  requires  part  of  this  power ;  to  arrange 
and  combine  the  images  suggested  requires  a  further  part ; 
and  only  that  part  which  remains  can  be  used  for  real- 
izing the  thought  conveyed.  Hence,  the  more  time  and 
attention  it  takes  to  receive  and  understand  each  sentence, 
the  less  time  and  attention  can  be  given  to  the  contained 
idea,  and  the  less  vividly  will  that  idea  be  conceived." 

The  whole  essay  is  an  argument  to  show  that  this 
principle  embraces  the  main  elements  of  style.  Whether 
Mr.  Spencer  is  correct  throughout  in  his  contention  or  not, 
it  is  certainly  true  that  the  student  who  first  grasps  this 
principle  sees  the  subject  of  expression  in  a  new  light, 
and  is  likely  also  to  think  his  thoughts  more  clearly  and 
to  express  them  in  stronger  and  more  clarified  diction. 
The  simple  idea  that  language  is  a  vehicle  to  be  used  with 
largest  effect  and  greatest  economy  can  hardly  fail  to 
affect  his  style  beneficially.  To  the  proposition  that  a 
clear  conception  of  the  principles  of  expression  will  tend 
to  improve  expression,  it  is  no  reply  to  say  that  Homer 
never  studied  rhetoric,  or  that  Dr.  Franklin  never  went 
to  college.  The  study  of  principles  makes  models  effect- 
ive. On  this  point  Professor  Minto  may  be  quoted. 
14 


182  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

"  I  take  it  that  the  main  use  of  rhetorical  principles 
...  is  to  quicken  the  beginner's  natural  judgment  in  his 
study  of  examples.  He  is  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  host 
of  writers,  good  and  bad.  The  most  effective  writers  nat- 
urally influence  him  most.  He  might  learn  from  them  as 
much  as  he  wants  of  the  art  of  composition  without  any 
guidance.  He  imitates  what  he  admires,  irrespective  of 
all  guidance.  All  of  us  acquire  in  this  way  the  greater 
part  of  what  skill  we  have.  But  while  every  great  writer 
has  his  own  inimitable  charm,  all  effective  writing  is  so  in 
virtue  of  its  compliance  with  certain  general  conditions- 
These  general  conditions  the  student  may  learn  insensibly, 
but  the  most  rudimentary  of  them  admit  of  being  stated, 
and  the  statement  may  stimulate  and  guide  the  student's 
own  powers  of  observation  and  execution."  * 

For  example,  if  sophomores  in  and  out  of  college 
should  lay  hold  of  the  rule  that  Minto  thus  states — "  One 
object  of  language,  perhaps  we  should  not  say  the  object 
of  language,  is  the  conveyance  of  ideas  or  feelings  from 
one  mind  to  another " — how  much  ambitious  writing 
would  be  amended  !  Or  if  the  whole  array  of  writers  who 
contribute  to  the  current  volume  of  printed  matter  should 
closely  study  Minto's  amplification  of  this  rule,  how  much 
vagueness,  obscurity,  and  verbosity,  with  consequent  loss 
of  time  and  mental  energy,  would  be  saved  ! 

"It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  object  of  language 
is  to  express  thought.  This  is  a  misleading  description 
for  the  student  of  composition.  We  want  not  merely 
to  express,  but  to  impress  or  communicate,  which  is  not 
quite  the  same  thing.  In  using  language  we  have  to 
consider  not  merely  the  putting  of  our  thoughts  into 
words, — the  utterance   or  expression   of  what  is  in  our 

*  Plain  Principles  of  Prose  Composition,  p.  10. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RHETORIC.  1S3 

minds ;  we  have  to  consider  also  how  to  get  our  thoughts 
into  the  minds  of  others.  Utterance  might  be  compara- 
tively easy,  but  the  utterance  must  be  such  as  to  find  an 
entrance  elsewhere.  We  have  not  merely  to  pour  the 
water  out  of  the  bottle.  If  this  were  all,  we  might  trickle 
gently  or  gurgle  and  splutter  convulsively  as  we  pleased, 
with  much  the  same  result.  We  have  to  pour  out  in  such 
a  way  that  every  drop  may,  if  possible,  be  got  into  another 
bottle."  * 

To  the  arguments  that  have  been  presented  in  favour 
of  the  study  of  rhetoric,  it  may  be  replied  that  they  as- 
sume greater  persistence  in  the  study  and  in  the  effort  to 
improve  one's  composition  than  can  be  safely  taken  for 
granted.  The  good  work  that  is  begun  in  the  high  school, 
it  may  be  said,  is  soon  laid  aside;  and  no  matter  how  hard 
the  teacher  may  have  struggled  to  lift  him  to  a  high  level 
of  expression,  the  pupil  soon  falls  back  to  the  wonted 
level  of  his  mind.  The  same  may  be  said  of  many  stu- 
dents who  receive  the  severer  discipline  of  the  college.  It 
is  impossible  to  deny  force  to  such  a  reply.  The  ease 
with  which  persons  who  have  been  trained  in  schools  fall 
into  slovenly  habits  of  expression,  and  particularly  of 
writing,  on  leaving  school,  is  extremely  discouraging,  and 
would  be  surprising  if  we  did  not  see  so  much  of  it.  Still, 
it  is  not  true  that,  even  in  the  cases  of  the  majority,  the 
effect  of  rhetorical  training  is  wholly  lost ;  while  in  the 
cases  of  a  minority  it  undeniably  contributes  materially  to 
the  formation  of  good  style. 

Accordingly,  I  believe  in  putting  rhetoric  in  the  high- 
school  course,  say  about  fifty  lessons.  It  should  come  in 
the  second  half  of  the  course,  and,  if  possible,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  last  year.     Put  in  this  place,  relative  ma- 


*  Plain  Principles  of  Prose  Composition,  p.  12. 


184  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

turity  of  mind  is  secured,  while  there  is  also  opportunity 
for  a  full  year's  practice  in  the  light  of  rhetorical  prin- 
ciples. It  should  be  elementary  in  character.  It  should 
deal  with  the  broader  elements  of  the  subject,  shunning 
intricacies  and  niceties.  It  should  be  theoretical,  but 
should  be  fully  illustrated  by  examples,  and  be  constantly 
re-enforced  by  practice  in  composition.  It  should  sum 
up  or  codify  the  work  already  done  in  composition  in 
respect  to  principles.*  The  examples  that  are  used,  as 
under  the  head  of  purity  of  style  or  of  figures,  should 
be  chosen  with  particular  care.  Keference  should  be 
had,  in  choosing  them,  to  the  pupil's  habits  and  sur- 
roundings, keeping  an  eye  on  the  practical  end.  The 
examples  should  be  palpable  violations  of  sound  princi- 
ples, and  should  not  be  multiplied  to  weariness.  Many  of 
the  text-books  now  in  use  are  overloaded  with  "  examples  " 
and  "  exercises  "  to  be  corrected,  some  of  which,  moreover, 
are  faulty  only  in  the  eye  of  a  perverse  critical  ingenuity. 
Above  all,  rhetoric  should  be  taught  by  a  competent 
teacher.  If  definitions  are  merely  memorized,  and  rules 
handled  in  a  merely  mechanical  way,  little  benefit  will  re- 
sult ;  but  if  the  teacher  meets  the  conditions  that  have 
been  laid  down,  the  study  will  be  followed  by  good  results 
along  several  lines.  Students  will  obtain  a  broader  out- 
look  of  the  subject  of  expression.  Many  will  form  the 
habit  of  studying  literature  and  style  more  closely.  Some 
will  get  into  the  way  of  analyzing  their  own  thoughts  and 
their  own  style  more  thoroughly.  Those  who  go  to  col- 
lege will  receive  needed  preparation  for  college  work  in 
the  same  subject ;  and  those  who  do  not,  as  a  class,  will 
be  the  better  educated  for  their  pains. 

*  See  Report  of  the  Conference  on  English  to  the  Committee 
of  Ten,  p.  91. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF   CRITICISM. 

In  preceding  chapters  various  observations  have  been 
made  concerning  the  function  and  method  of  criticism  in 
teaching  the  language-arts.  It  is  deemed  necessary,  how- 
ever, to  give  the  subject  the  advantage  of  a  formal 
chapter. 

Criticism  as  here  used  is  not  another  name  for  the 
science  of  aesthetics,  which  is  the  sense  that  Lord  Karnes 
puts  upon  the  word  in  his  well-known  work,*  but  is  the 
name  of  an  art.  Of  practical  pedagogical  questions,  few 
are  harder  to  answer  than  the  one  that  the  term  used  in 
this  connection  suggests.  The  heading  does  not  imply 
that  what  is  true  of  any  one  of  the  language-arts  is  true 
of  all  of  them,  but  only  that  so  much  is  true  of  all  of  them 
that  they  may  be  advantageously  brought  under  one  gen- 
eral view.  First,  we  must  grasp  the  facts  out  of  which 
the  difficulty  referred  to  arises. 

1.  All  good  expression  with  voice  or  pen  is  free  and 
spontaneous.  The  good  talker,  the  good  reader,  the  good 
writer  is  untrammelled.  This  state  of  freedom  relates  as 
well  to  the  language  in  which  the  thought  is  clothed  as  to 
the  thought  itself.  Just  as  far  as  any  cause  interrupts 
this  freedom,  it  interferes  with  one  of  the  essential  condi- 
tions of  good  thinking  and  of  good  expression.     Every 

*  Elements  of  Criticism. 
185 


186  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

disturbing  influence  involves  the  loss  to  the  work  imme- 
diately in  hand  of  whatever  mental  power  it  itself  absorbs. 
This,  as  Mr.  Spencer  has  explained  in  the  passage  quoted 
in  the  last  chapter,  is  why  language  as  a  conscious  art 
gets  in  the  way  of  both  expressing  and  receiving  thought. 
Manifestly,  language  is  like  any  other  vehicle — whatever 
power  is  required  to  keep  the  wheels  turning  is  subtracted 
from  the  efficiency  of  the  machine.  It  is  therefore  a  plain 
case  of  reducing  friction  to  a  minimum. 

What  has  now  been  said  is  in  full  consonance  with  the 
sound  theory  of  acquiring  the  language-arts.  The  word 
"  expression "  may  imply  a  forcing  or  squeezing  out  of 
what  is  expressed,  as  in  a  winepress ;  but  in  speech  or 
composition  it  is  not  so.  A  good  speech  or  composition 
is  never  really  made  ;  it  is  not  the  product  of  a  force  that 
works  from  without ;  it  does  not  come  from  the  external 
application  of  methods  and  rules ;  it  is  rather  the  product 
of  a  force  that  works  from  within,  or,  better  still,  it  is  a 
growth  from  some  root  of  knowledge  or  feeling  in  the 
mind  itself.  Without  this  inward  creative  force,  which  is 
far  superior  to  conscious  rules,  no  really  good  work  can  be 
done.  Criticism  has  its  place ;  but  we  never  think  of 
Shakespeare  as  building  up  his  plays  by  foot-rule  and 
plumb-bob.  On  this  point  nothing  can  be  better  than 
the  following  sentences  from  Professor  W.  C.  Wilkinson : 
"  Stimulus,  more  than  criticism,  is  what  the  forming  lit- 
erary mind  requires.  Vigorous  growth  can  better  be 
trusted  than  the  most  laborious  pruning  knife,  to  give 
symmetry  of  form.  Besides,  only  vigorous  growth  re- 
sponds to  the  pruning  knife  with  desirable  results."* 
Still  another  writer  has  said  : 

"  When  Mozart  was  asked  how  he  set  to  work  to  com- 


*  Quoted  by  Genung :  The  Study  of  Rhetoric. 


THE   FUNCTION   OF  CRITICISM.  187 

pose  a  symphony  he  replied,  l  If  you  once  think  how  you 
are  to  do  it,  you  will  never  write  anything  worth  hearing ; 
I  write  because  I  can  not  help  it.'  Jean  Paul  remarks  of 
the  poet's  work  :  '  The  character  must  appear  living  before 
you,  and  you  must  hear  it,  not  merely  see  it ;  it  must,  as 
takes  place  in  dreams,  dictate  to  you,  not  you  to  it.  A 
poet  who  must  reflect  whether,  in  a  given  case,  he  will 
make  his  character  say  Yes,  or  No,  to  the  devil  with  him  ! ' 
An  author  may  be  as  much  astonished  at  the  brilliancy 
of  his  unwilled  inspirations  as  his  most  partial  reader. 
4  That's  splendid  ! '  exclaimed  Thackeray,  as  he  struck  the 
table  in  admiring  surprise  at  the  utterance  of  one  of  his 
characters  in  the  story  he  was  writing."  * 

2.  When  children  come  to  school,  they  have  in  most 
cases  already  contracted  faults  of  expression — faults  of 
articulation,  pronunciation,  grammar,  and  style.  Few 
indeed  are  the  children  who  are  free  from  all  these  blem- 
ishes. Imitation  is  not  a  selective  art,  but  it  catches  with 
great  impartiality  whatever  comes  within  the  sweep  of  its 
net.  Furthermore,  the  child  is  reasonably  certain  to  con- 
tract new  faults  if  allowed  to  go  on  his  own  way.  No 
amount  of  care  on  the  part  of  parent  or  teacher  can 
keep  him  wholly  from  bad  models.  Plainly,  it  would  not 
answer  to  allow  him  to  go  on  his  way  alone,  even  if  that 
were  possible.  But  it  is  not  possible  ;  the  pupil  must  have 
positive  direction,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  this  will 
sometimes  be  wrong,  and  that  his  teachers  will  set  him 
some  bad  examples.  In  these  circumstances  originates 
the  necessity  of  criticism — what  Professor  Whitney  calls 
"  constant  use  and  practice  under  never-failing  watch  and 
correction." 

*  Dr.  E.  L.  Youmans :  The  Culture  Demanded  by  Modern  Life, 
pp.  382,  383. 


188  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

3.  But  the  moment  that  any  person  who  is  engaged  in 
expression  begins  to  feel  the  "  watch  and  correction  "  his 
mind  is  thrown  into  a  self-conscious  and  abnormal  state. 
He  ceases  to  be  wholly  creative  and  becomes  partly  critical. 
His  mind  is  divided,  or  "  distracted."  Moreover,  rules  at 
once  become  disturbing  elements.  For  a  talker,  reader, 
or  writer  to  give  conscious  attention  to  his  errors,  or  con- 
sciously to  apply  the  rules  of  reading,  grammar,  spelling, 
or  rhetoric,  is  to  sacrifice  to  an  equal  degree  his  immediate 
end.  One  of  two  things  will  happen  :  he  will  gain  in  cor- 
rectness and  lose  in  force,  or  he  will  lose  in  both  correct- 
ness and  force. 

Such  is  the  problem  that  the  teacher  of  English  has 
to  confront.     What  is  to  be  done  ? 

One  thing  is  clear.  Because  correction  interferes 
with  freedom  we  can  not  therefore  set  it  aside,  or  unduly 
restrict  its  province.  We  can  not  consent  to  errors  and 
vulgarisms  because  they  are  "  spontaneous."  We  must 
discover  some  way  of  harmonizing  the  two  factors,  free- 
dom and  criticism.  The  question  is  one  that  confronts 
the  teacher  of  any  art.  It  is  the  imposition  of  restraint 
upon  creative  force — the  adjustment  of  principles  and 
rules  to  practice.  It  involves  the  practical  relation  of 
knowing  and  doing.  It  is  an  end  that  must  be  reached,  as 
Radestock  says,  "  by  the  aid  of  one  of  Education's  trusty 
servants — the  formation  of  habit,  which  changes  func- 
tions, of  whatever  kind,  originally  performed  but  slowly 
and  with  effort,  into  rapid  and  skilful  actions,  performed 
with  dexterity  and  ease ;  it  makes  study  easier,  and 
finally  builds  the  bridge  uniting  theory  with  practice  by 
changing  dead  knowledge  into  a  living  power."  *  How 
shall  we  build  this  bridge  ?    At  this  point  the  language- 


*  Habit,  p.  4. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  CRITICISM.  189 

arts  offer  greater  difficulties  than  some  others.  A  ma- 
jority of  people  are  peculiarly  sensitive  to  criticism  of 
their  language,  perhaps  because  language  is  a  high  test  of 
cultivation.  Fortunately,  however,  young  children  are  less 
sensitive  than  older  children  or  adults  ;  indeed,  if  children 
are  properly  handled  from  the  beginning,  much  of  this 
timidity  and  shrinking  may  be  avoided. 

But  to  return  to  our  question,  What  is  to  be  done  ? 
How  shall  we  build  the  bridge  uniting  theory  and  prac- 
tice ?  While  the  following  practical  suggestions  may  not 
include  the  whole  ground,  they  will  nevertheless  cover  a 
considerable  portion  of  it : — 

1.  In  early  years  correction  must  rest  directly  upon 
authority ;  the  parent  or  teacher  must  be  the  standard  of 
correctness  and  taste.  What  is  wanted  is  practice,  and 
rules  and  reasons  would  be  out  of  place.  In  respect  to 
pronunciation,  the  pupil  does  not  resort  to  the  dictionary, 
or,  if  he  does,  he  can  not  apply  the  key  of  sounds.  The 
long,  the  short,  and  the  obscure  sounds  of  «,  for  example, 
can  mean  nothing  to  him  until  he  has  learned  them  by 
practice. 

2.  Correction  to  be  effective  must  be  repeated  over 
and  over  again.  It  is  the  constant  dropping  that  wears 
away  the  stone.  Many  are  the  strokes  required  to  build 
the  bridge.  Hence,  when  the  faults  of  children  are  nu- 
merous, they  should  not  be  attacked  all  at  once,  but  in 
successive  order. 

3.  The  faults  under  correction  at  any  time,  both  in 
respect  to  kind  and  number,  should  be  chosen  with  refer- 
ence to  the  child's  age  and  mental  progress.  Faults  of 
pronunciation  and  of  grammar  should  be  taken  in  hand 
as  soon  as  the  child  begins  to  commit  them ;  but  faults  of 
rhetoric,  as  of  construction,  and  particularly  of  a  refined 
character,  should  be  left   until   a  later    time.      For  the 


190  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

teacher  to  attack  errors  before  the  pupil  is  ripe  for  the 
attack,  is  most  wearisome  and  disheartening  alike  to 
pupil  and  teacher.  If  needed  stimulus  is  furnished, 
and  good  models  are  kept  constantly  in  view,  the  pupil 
will  in  time  grow  off  not  a  few  excrescences  that  the 
teacher  will,  at  an  earlier  date,  fail  to  cut  away  with  his 
pruning  knife.  Here  as  elsewhere  no  little  labour  is  lost 
because  it  is  done  out  of  due  time. 

4.  The  teacher  must  not  expect  too  much  either  at 
the  end  of  the  course  or  at  any  stage  in  its  progress. 
This  is  indeed  but  a  phase  of  the  point  last  made,  but  it 
deserves  special  emphasis.  College  students  going  as 
teachers  into  high  schools  are  not  unlikely  to  be  exacting. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  some  persons  will  never  be- 
come good  writers.  To  write  well  calls  for  creative  power 
and  literary  taste,  while  many  persons  have  been  denied 
these  gifts.  Only  a  minority  of  the  children  in  school 
will  ever  become  masters  of  anything  deserving  to  be 
called  a  literary  style  ;  and  we  must  be  content  to  see  the 
majority  reach,  as  the  result  of  drill  and  practice,  a  formal 
correctness  and  propriety.  Much  the  same  is  true  of 
reading.  The  ready  intuition,  the  rapid  grasp  of  ideas, 
the  light  of  imagination,  the  quick  feeling,  the  flexible 
and  well-modulated  voice,  which  are  essential  to  good 
reading,  are  gifts  of  a  high  order  and  are  somewhat  rare. 
No  doubt  practice  can  do  much  to  develop  these  qualities, 
but  it  can  not  create  them. 

5.  As  the  pupil  mounts  to  the  upper  grades,  he  should 
be  gradually  introduced  to  rules  and  reasons.  The  per- 
sonal authority  of  the  teacher  must  slowly  retire  into  the 
background.  In  other  words,  the  art  of  criticism,  which 
at  first  should  not  extend  beyond  "  This  is  right "  and 
"That  is  wrong,"  must  be  slowly  turned  toward  the 
science  of  criticism.     In  this  respect  the  language-arts  are 


THE  FUNCTION   OF   CRITICISM.  191 

not  all  alike.  Pronunciation  and  grammar  rest  on  usage 
or  convention  ;  so  do  the  meanings  of  words  ;  and  so  also 
do  some  features  of  rhetoric,  as  capitalization  and  punctua- 
tion, but  the  rules  relating  to  clearness,  energy,  emphasis, 
and  harmony  of  style  are  direct  outgrowths  of  psycho- 
logical facts.  The  laws  of  effective  speech  or  writing  are 
laws  of  the  human  mind ;  and  it  is  idle  to  present  them 
until  they  can  be  understood. 

6.  It  is  all-important  that  the  teacher  should  correct 
the  pupil's  exercises,  both  oral  and  written,  in  a  good 
spirit.  Due  pains  must  be  taken  not  to  put  the  pupil  to 
shame,  lest  otherwise  reactionary  tendencies  set  in  at  once.* 
It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  while  criticism  looks  to 
purely  intellectual  ends,  these  ends  lie  proximate  to  the 
pupil's  sensibility.  The  channels  of  the  young  mind  will 
not  flow  with  clear  and  bright  ideas  if  they  are  running 
turbid  or  violent  with  feelings  that  the  teacher  has  excited 
by  unnecessary  or  unkind  criticism.  In  no  other  school 
exercise  is  it  so  necessary  that  the  pupil  shall  be  self-pos- 
sessed as  in  composition r oral  or  written.  No  wheels  are 
sooner  blocked  than  the  wheels  of  expression.  As  the 
pupil  grows  in  years  and  in  self-mastery,  he  can  be,  and 
he  should  be,  treated  with  more  severity,  particularly  if 

*  "  Originality  is  a  shy  flower,  and  will  unfold  only  in  a  conge- 
nial atmosphere.  One  may  as  well  grasp  a  sea-anemone  and  expect 
it  to  show  its  beauty,  as  ask  a  child  to  write  from  his  own  expe- 
rience when  he  expects  every  sentence  to  be  dislocated  in  order  to 
be  improved.  The  sentences  need  improvement,  no  doubt,  but  that 
improvement  will  come  under  the  influence  of  good  models  and 
quiet  suggestions.  The  teacher  of  composition  should  never  forget 
that  '  the  life  is  more  than  meat  and  the  body  than  raiment ' ;  that 
the  spirit  and  thought  of  any  exercise  are  more  than  the  technical 
dress,  and  that  if  the  former  are  developed,  the  latter  will  not  be 
wanting."— (Miss  H.  L.  Keeler  :  Preface  to  Studies  in  English  Com- 
position.) 


192  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

careless ;  but  the  wind  must  be  tempered  to  the  shorn 
lamb.  Still,  as  said  before,  much  depends  upon  the  regi- 
men under  which  the  child  has  been  brought  up.  If  he 
has  been  trained  to  express  his  ideas  in  writing  from  the 
beginning  of  his  school  life,  and  has  been  accustomed  to 
well-tempered  correction,  the  normal  child  will  show  little 
of  that  hesitation  and  fear  which  are  so  characteristic  of 
youth  who  are  required  to  prepare  essays  without  having 
received  the  needed  preparation,  and  he  will  consider  the 
correction  of  his  language  exercises  as  much  a  matter  of 
course  as  the  correction  of  his  arithmetic  or  grammar  ex- 
ercises. Besides,  there  should  be  commendation  as  well  as 
blame.  In  the  sage  words  of  Quintilian :  "  In  amending 
what  requires  correction,  let  him  [the  teacher]  not  be 
harsh,  and  least  of  all  not  reproachful ;  for  that  very 
circumstance,  that  some  tutors  blame  as  if  they  hated, 
deters  many  young  men  from  their  proposed  course  of 
study."* 

7.  To  make  possible  that  freedom  which  is  so  essential 
to  the  best  work,  many  of  the  pupil's  exercises,  after  he  has 
made  a  fair  start  at  least,  should  pass  without  any  review 
or  criticism  other  than  his  own.  Criticism  may  be  over- 
done. "  It  is  a  capital  mistake,"  says  Professor  Wilkinson, 
"  for  boards  of  college  oversight  to  suppose  that  they  have 
done  the  best  for  the  literary  education  of  young  men 
when  they  have  provided  them  with  an  instructor  who  is 
willing  to  go  through  unlimited  drudgery  in  the  way  of 
minute  rudimentary  criticism  of  their  essays  with  the 
pencil  or  the  pen."  It  must  be  remembered  particularly 
that  a  degree  of  exuberance  is  natural  to  pupils  who  have 
reached  a  certain  stage  of  advancement.  In  discussing 
this  subject,  too,  Quintilian  shows  his   usual  good  sense. 


*  Institutes  of  Oratory,  ii  2,  7. 


THE  FUNCTION   OF   CRITICISM.  193 

"The  remedy  for  exuberance    is  easy,"   he  says;   "bar- 
renness is  incurable  by  any  labour." 

8.  The  pupil  must  be  taught  to  play  the  critic  himself 
—that  is,  to  observe  and  correct  mistakes  of  speech  and 
composition.  Such  a  habit  naturally  begins  with  the  er- 
rors of  others,  but  its  proper  end  is  self-criticism.  The 
teacher  can  render,  the  better  pupils  particularly,  no 
greater  service  than  to  start  them  well  on  this  road. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  end  of  criticism,  as 
we  deal  with  it,  is  wholly  practical.  It  aims  to  correct 
faults  and  to  develop  excellences,  and  if  it  fails  here  it 
fails  wholly.  No  doubt  the  science  of  criticism  has  dis- 
ciplinary value,  but  this  value  is  no  reason  why  it  should 
be  brought  into  the  elementary  school  or  the  high  school. 
But  criticism  to  be  practical  must  be  remembered,  and  be 
applied  in  the  preparation  of  new  exercises.  Obviously, 
forgotten  criticism  is  useless.  Furthermore,  the  applica- 
tion of  critical  tests  or  rules  involves  some  impairment  of 
unconscious  freedom,  some  growth  of  linguistic  self-con- 
sciousness. But  there  is  no  helping  it.  Some  disturbance 
from  this  source  is  inevitable.  Two  points,  however, 
should  be  well  guarded.  One  is  to  reduce  the  disturb- 
ance to  a  minimum  in  the  first  place,  and  the  second  to 
eliminate  it  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Comparative  immu- 
nity from  this  disturbance  is  enjoyed  by  those  persons 
who  become  so  familiar  with  the  critic  that  he  loses  his 
terrors  in  their  eyes. 

If  errors  are  duly  corrected  ;  if  at  the  proper  time  rules 
are  steadily  borne  in  upon  the  mind  ;  if  the  habit  of  self- 
criticism  is  created  ;  if  the  pupil  consorts  with  good  mod- 
els— the  bridge  uniting  theory  and  practice  will  be  built, 
slowly  indeed  but  well.  Step  by  step  corrections  and  rules 
will  fall  out  of  the  conscious  mind,  because  they  are  being 
transformed  into  habit,  and  self-criticism  will   become 


194  TEACHING   THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

mainly  a  matter  of  revision,  after  the  first  glow  of  speech 
or  composition  is  over.  The  pupil  who  perversely  puts 
his  apostrophe  on  the  wrong  side  of  his  s,  and  uses  the 
objective  form  of  the  pronoun  in  room  of  the  nomi- 
native form,  will  come  to  speak  or  write  as  he  should 
do  without  once  thinking  of  his  former  errors.  He 
will  develop  a  second  nature  that  is  stronger  than  first 
nature. 

Because  speaking  and  writing  under  restraint  are  hard 
and  painful,  we  should  not  resort  to  license ;  the  difficulty 
and  pain  will  vanish  as  restraint  passes  into  habit.  Those 
persons,  if  any,  who  never  need  to  create  a  second  linguistic 
nature  may  be  congratulated  on  their  happy  escape.  But 
in  the  majority  of  cases  the  teacher  must  bend  every  effort 
to  the  end  of  transmuting  knowledge  into  power.  In  so  far 
as  the  art  of  composition  is  self-conscious,  it  is  not  un- 
like the  art  of  penmanship.  Here  the  aim  is  to  produce 
with  ease  and  skill  certain  conventional  characters.  The 
movements  and  strokes  are  at  first  awkward  and  painful ; 
but  as  they  become  correct  and  automatic  they  also  be- 
come easy  and  pleasant.  Theory  passes  into  practice.  This 
transition  is  the  most  important  one  ever  made  in  educa- 
tion, and  particularly  in  morals :  the  transition  from 
knowledge  to  power. 

Something  should  be  said  of  the  "  Nature  "  rules  that 
are  laid  down  in  every  book  that  deals  with  the  language- 
arts.  No  exhortations  are  more  common  than  these  : 
"  Speak  according  to  Nature,"  "  Read  naturally,"  "  Follow 
Nature  in  writing."  These  precepts,  however,  are  but 
special  applications  of  a  general  law  that  is  thus  formu- 
lated :  "  We  must  proceed  in  accordance  with  Nature." 
But  what  is  the  Nature  that  we  are  so  earnestly  com- 
manded to  follow  ? 

Perhaps  Aristotle  was  the  first  writer  whose  books 


THE   FUNCTION   OF  CRITICISM.  195 

have  come  down  to  us  that  undertook  to  define  the  term.* 
From  the  day  that  he  gave  his  definitions,  the  part  that 
Nature  plays  in  education  has  been  more  or  less  recog- 
nised, and  especially  since  Rousseau  wrote  his  epoch-mak- 
ing book.  Much  that  has  been  written  upon  the  subject, 
not  to  say  most,  has  been  extremely  vague  and  mislead- 
ing. A  discriminating  writer  has  said  that  "  probably 
nine  tenths  of  the  popular  sophistries  on  the  subject  of 
education  would  be  cleared  away  by  clarifying  the  word 
'  Nature. '  "  \ 

Now  the  precept  to  "  follow  Nature "  can  not  mean 
that  education  in  talking,  reading,  and  writing  shall  be 
without  direction  of  any  kind.  Such  a  canon  would  ex- 
clude reading  and  writing  altogether,  and  also  speaking 
according  to  a  cultivated  standard,  because  these  are  all 
arts.  This  can  not  therefore  be  what  is  meant  by  speak- 
ing, reading,  and  writing  "  naturally."  Nor,  secondly,  can 
the  precept  mean  that  the  child  shall  be  taught  the  lan- 
guage-arts, but  shall  be  left  without  guidance  or  direc- 
tion. That  would  be  absurd,  since  there  is  no  telling 
what  pranks  "  Nature,"  left  to  herself,  would  play,  and 
since,  strictly  speaking,  the  requirement  would  involve  a 
contradiction.  Hence  we  are  again  thrown  back  upon 
the  question,  What  is  the  Nature  that  is  set  up  as  a  cri- 
terion to  be  followed  ? 

Professor  Davidson,  in  his  admirable  chapter  on  Na- 
ture and  Education,  tells  us  that,  applied  to  living  things, 
the  term  "  Nature  "  is  used  in  two  distinct  senses,  which 
"  are  often  confounded,"  to  the  great  detriment  of  educa- 
tional theory  and  practice.  "  In  one  sense  it  is  the  charac- 
ter or  type  with  which  a  thing  starts  on  a  separate  career, 

*  The  Metaphysics,  Book  IV,  chap.  iv. 

t  S.  R.  Sill :  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1883,  p.  178. 


196  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

and  which,  without  any  effort  on  the  part  of  that  thing, 
but  solely  with  the  aid  of  natural  forces,  determines  that 
career."  The  acorn,  the  bean,  the  chick,  the  whelp,  and 
the  cub  are  given  as  examples.  "  In  the  other  sense, '  Na- 
ture '  means  that  highest  possible  reality  which  a  living 
thing,  through  a  series  of  voluntary  acts  originating  within 
or  without  it,  may  be  made  to  attain."  *  These  he  calls 
the  "  original  "  and  the  "  ideal "  senses  of  the  word.  Ob- 
viously, it  is  in  the  second  of  the  two  senses  that  the  term 
is  used,  or  should  be  used,  in  dealing  with  rational  edu- 
cation. 

The  latest  translator  of  the  Emile,  subjecting  the 
"  Nature  "  of  that  book  to  analysis,  finds  that  it  contains 
the  three  elements  of  simplicity,  reality,  and  personal  ex- 
perience. "  Simplify  your  methods  as  much  as  possible ; 
distrust  the  artificial  aids  that  complicate  the  process  of 
teaching ;  bring  your  pupil  face  to  face  with  reality ;  con- 
nect symbol  with  substance  ;  make  learning,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, a  process  of  personal  discovery ;  depend  as  little  as 
possible  on  mere  authority.  This  is  my  interpretation  of 
Rousseau's  precept,  '  Follow  Nature.'  "  f  Nothing  more 
definite  than  this,  I  conceive,  can  be  extracted  from  the 
Nature  doctrine  in  education.  While  this  is  much — very 
much— it  still  leaves  the  teacher  who  is  seeking  for  prac- 
tical guidance  at  a  loss  as  to  details.  About  all,  therefore, 
that  the  "  Nature  "  rules  in  the  language-arts  can  mean  is 
this :  The  teacher  and  the  pupil  alike  should  study  closely 
the  composition  to  be  read,  and  the  subject  to  be  handled 
in  speech  or  essay ;  they  should  attend  to  the  character  of 
the  thought  and  feeling,  respect  the  proprieties  of  time 
and  place,  and  inquire  what  is  "  natural,"  all  of  which  is 


*  Education  of  the  Greek  People,  chap.  i. 
f  Dr.  W.  H.  Payne :  Introduction. 


THE   FUNCTION   OF   CRITICISM.  197 

« 

but  another  name  for  the  exercise  of  good  sense.  The 
teacher  should  regard  the  general  facts  of  the  mind  and 
the  individuality  of  the  pupil;  she  should,  as  Matthew 
Arnold  might  have  said,  "  let  her  intelligence  play  freely 
upon  the  facts  involved  in  each  case."  The  "Nature" 
rules  assume  that  there  is  some  common  standard  of  ex- 
cellence, some  general  ideas  or  usages  in  relation  to  what 
is  good  and  what  is  bad;  and  this  assumption  we  may 
safely  accept.  To  accept  it,  however,  does  not  imply  that 
this  standard  is  to  be  ascertained  by  consulting  each  indi- 
vidual man,  or  by  throwing  the  question  open  to  a  popu- 
lar vote ;  it  is,  rather,  the  opinion  and  the  usage  of  those 
most  competent  to  extract  from  the  facts  their  deepest 
meaning. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  must,  therefore,  be  said  that  the 
"  Nature  "  rules  are  rather  vague  and  indefinite  for  prac- 
tical guidance  in  the  schoolroom  ;  that  they  are,  however, 
the  only  final  and  authoritative  rules  that  can  be  given ; 
and  that  the  teacher  must,  at  least  within  limits,  extract 
them  from  the  composition,  the  subject,  the  child,  and 
the  occasion,  as  they  present  themselves.  Such  a  quest, 
if  successful,  can  not  be  separated  from  good  models. 
The  teacher  who  makes  it  will  soon  discover  that  uni- 
formity must  be  shunned  and  diversity  be  cultivated.  The 
motto  "  The  style  is  the  man  "  expresses  a  profound  truth 
which  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  "  Nature  "  rules.  This  is 
the  reason  why,  to  refer  to  a  well-known  passage  in  Mr. 
Spencer's  Essay,  Johnson  is  pompous  and  Goldsmith  sim- 
ple, one  author  abrupt,  another  rhythmical,  and  a  third 
concise.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  perfect  writer  writes 
like  Junius  when  in  the  Junius  frame  of  mind,  like  Lamb 
when  he  feels  as  Lamb  felt,  and  like  Carlyle  when  in  the 
Carlylean  mood. 

15 


198  TEACHING   THE  4  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

In  the  preceding  pages  I  have  emphasized  the  key 
words  to  the  language-arts,  viz.,  imitation  and  practice, 
models  and  correction.  The  teacher's  practical  problem 
is  to  correlate  the  two  main  ideas  that  these  words  express. 
While  the  boy  who  hears  good  English  spoken  and  read, 
and  reads  good  books,  will  far  distance  the  boy  who  does 
not  hear  such  English  and  read  such  books,  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  he  will  proceed  on  this  pleasant  path 
until  he  wakes  up  some  fine  morning  to  find  himself  a 
good  speaker  or  a  good  writer.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  the  boy  of  practice  and  correction 
will  attain  that  end  if  models  and  imitation  are  wanting. 
Both  elements  are  called  for ;  but  models  and  imitation 
come  first,  and  they  are  of  the  greater  value. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

TEACHERS   OF  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

It  is  stated  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  work  that  to 
teach  English  successfully  requires  a  combination  of  cul- 
tivation, taste,  judgment,  and  practical  skill  not  found  in 
the  common  teacher.  The  unsatisfactory  character  of 
English  instruction  in  the  schools  is  also  ascribed,  in  part, 
to  the  incompetency  of  teachers.  Still  further,  casual  ref- 
erences to  the  teacher  question  are  found  scattered  through 
the  book.  A  dealing  with  the  topic  still  more  direct  and 
definite  is,  however,  called  for,  and  I  may  fitly  bring  my 
task  to  a  close  with  a  brief  chapter  on  the  qualifications 
of  teachers  of  the  language-arts. 

The  remarks  made  hitherto  have  had  principal  refer- 
ence to  teachers  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  the  work. 
In  the  case  of  primary  teachers,  at  least  those  found  in 
the  first  grades,  qualifications  to  teach  these  arts  are  the 
principal  things  to  be  looked  at,  pedagogically  speaking, 
in  selecting  them.  So  very  important  at  this  stage  of 
progress  is  instruction  in  oral  speech,  in  language  lessons, 
and  in  the  art  of  reading !  The  qualifications  required 
are  clear  perception  of  the  elements  of  the  arts,  their  rela- 
tions to  real  knowledge,  and  skill  in  bringing  these  ele- 
ments into  connection  with  young  minds.  In  the  more 
advanced  grades,  and  in  the  high  school,  the  range  of  in- 
struction that  the  teacher  is  called  upon  to  furnish  is 
much  wider  than  in  the  lower  grades,  and  the  language- 

199 


200  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

arts  are  relatively  much  less  important ;  still,  owing  to 
the  wider  and  higher  character  of  the  work  to  be  done  in 
these  arts,  far  higher  attainments  in  the  teacher  are  neces- 
sary. The  idea  has  seized  the  minds  of  some  school  super- 
intendents and  board  members,  that  almost  anybody  "  will 
do  "  to  teach  English  to  children.  The  fact  is  just  the 
contrary.  The  teaching  of  literature  in  particular  can 
not  be  subjected  to  the  processes  that  are  so  successful 
in  science,  mathematics,  and  the  classics  and  modern  lan- 
guages. In  no  other  high-school  chair,  perhaps,  can  an 
incompetent  teacher,  and  particularly  one  possessed  by 
notions  and  hobbies,  do  so  much  harm  as  in  the  chair  of 
English  literature. 

Some  remarks  have  already  been  made  on  special 
teachers  of  English  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  con- 
centration. Returning  to  that  question,  I  avow  the  opinion 
that  in  the  early  grades  such  a  teacher  would  be  most  un- 
desirable, and  that  the  departmental  method  of  teaching 
in  elementary  schools  is  based  on  false  principles.  The 
child's  mind  is  one,  and,  for  the  most  part,  his  lessons 
should  be  taught  by  one  teacher.  To  cut  up  his  mind 
into  fragments  and  piece  them  out  to  a  group  of  teachers 
who  are  likely  to  know  little  of  what  they  are  severally 
doing,  who  are  certain  not  to  know  fully,  and  who  become 
competitors  for  the  child's  time  and  mental  energy,  is 
most  mischievous.  In  high  schools,  and  especially  in  the 
first  year,  specialization  is  sometimes  carried  to  a  harmful 
extent.  Still,  the  time  will  come  when  a  special  teacher 
of  English  should  be  employed.  On  this  point  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Conference  on  English  made  to  the 
Committee  of  Ten  may  be  quoted  with  approval,  the  only 
doubtful  point  being  whether  the  time  set  for  the  advent 
of  the  special  teacher  is  not  too  early. 

"  In  the  opinion  of  the  Conference,  it  is  expedient  that 


TEACHERS  OF  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS.  201 

the  English  work  during  the  last  two  years  of  the  gram- 
mar-school course  (including  formal  grammar,  reading, 
and  composition)  should  be  in  the  hands  of  a  special 
teacher  or  teachers.  But  the  appointment  of  such  teacher 
or  teachers  should  not  be  held  to  exclude  the  instructors 
in  other  subjects  from  the  oversight  of  the  English  of 
their  pupils.  It  is  only  by  cordial  co-operation  in  all  de- 
partments that  satisfactory  results  in  this  direction  can  be 
obtained.  To  the  lack  of  such  joint  effort  the  present 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  English  study  in  the  high 
schools  and  colleges  may  be  in  great  part  ascribed."  * 

What  is  here  said  about  co-operation  among  all  the 
teachers  of  the  school,  in  order  to  secure  intensive  work, 
and  about  the  special  teacher  as  well,  can  not  be  too 
strongly  insisted  upon. 

But  there  is  a  more  important  question  than  this  one. 
It  is  far  more  important  to  have  special  exercises  in  Eng- 
lish than  it  is  to  have  a  special  teacher.  The  doctrine  of 
concentration  has  limits  that  can  not  be  passed.  Lessons 
in  geography  or  arithmetic,  and  still  more  lessons  in  his- 
tory, may  be  made  lessons  in  English,  in  reading,  even  in 
composition,  with  good  results ;  but  such  lessons  can  not 
be  made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  prescribed  lessons  in 
those  subjects.  No  school  exercise  is  useful  in  a?i  emi- 
nent degree  in  more  than  one  direction  at  the  same  time. 
Probably  the  geographical  readers,  the  historical  readers, 
the  physiological  readers,  etc.,  that  have  appeared  within 
the  last  few  years  answer  a  certain  purpose,  but  it  is  easy 
to  overestimate  their  value.  Physiology,  geography,  and 
history  can  not  be  taught  successfully  by  means  of  general 
reading  exercises,  nor  can  reading  as  an  art  be  taught 
properly  by  means  of  such  books.     There  must  be  specific 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten,  p.  90. 


202  TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

books  and  exercises  for  each  of  these  purposes.  Two 
studies,  and  much  less  a  larger  number,  can  not  be 
merged  into  one  study.  Hence  the  readers  just  referred 
to  can,  at  best,  be  nothing  more  in  their  several  subjects 
>than  supplemental  reading  books.  Still  more,  even  if 
there  were  no  psychological  objection  to  turning  the  Eng- 
lish over  to  the  teachers  of  the  school  collectively,  to  one 
as  much  as  to  another,  it  would  be  impossible  to  find 
teachers  in  sufficient  numbers  competent  to  do  the  work. 
Again,  if  the  English  be  distributed,  assigning  reading 
to  one  teacher,  composition  to  another,  and  literature  to 
a  third,  all  three  should  be  carefully  selected.  But  the 
teacher  of  literature  should  be  chosen  with  peculiar  care. 
To  aptness  to  teach  and  sufficient  breadth  of  reading 
should  be  added  literary  taste  and  appreciation,  insight  or 
penetration,  soundness  of  judgment,  correct  ideals,  and  a 
good  reading  voice.  Like  other  studies,  literature  can  be 
understood  only  through  the  apperceiving  process ;  more- 
over, since  literature  is  a  transcript  of  mental  life — an  ex- 
pression of  thought  and  feeling — the  facts,  ideas,  and 
images  that  are  essential  to  its  interpretation,  on  the  part 
of  both  pupil  and  teacher,  must  come  from  the  same 
source.  This  is  reason  enough  why  the  teacher  should  be 
a  person  who  has  had  some  experience  of  life  and  has  ac- 
cumulated some  store  of  thought.  In  a  word,  no  person 
can  succeed  in  teaching  this  subject  who  has  not  some  real 
cultivation.  Here,  if  anywhere,  the  old  Jewish  maxim 
must  hold :  "  He  who  learns  of  a  young  master  is  like  a 
man  who  eats  sour  grapes,  and  drinks  wine  fresh  from  the 
press ;  but  he  who  has  a  master  of  mature  years  is  like  a 
man  who  eats  ripe  and  delicious  grapes,  and  drinks  old 
wine." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


The  bibliography  of  the  subjects  treated  in  this  work 
is  already  very  extensive,  and  is  rapidly  increasing.  The 
text- writers  on  pedagogy,  at  least  on  the  practical  side,  all 
deal  with  teaching  reading,  language  lessons,  composition, 
and  grammar ;  and  some  of  them  with  teaching  rhetoric 
and  English  literature.  As  a  group,  no  subjects  are  more 
frequently  dealt  with  in  the  proceedings  of  teachers'  asso- 
ciations, or  are  more  frequently  handled  by  writers  in  the 
educational  press.  Numerous  articles  on  these  subjects  also 
find  their  way  into  the  magazines.  The  titles  of  the  works 
that  have  been  freely  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this 
book  are  given  in  footnotes.  The  principal  of  these  titles 
and  a  few  others  are  given  below,  with  accompanying 
remarks : 

Collins,  John  Churton  :  The  Study  of  English  Literature. 
A  plea  for  its  recognition  and  organization  at  the  uni- 
versities. Macmillan  &  Co.,  London  and  New  York, 
pp.  160.  While  this  book  relates  to  college  or  university 
study,  it  may  be  read  with  much  advantage  by  educated 
teachers  in  the  secondary  schools. 
Corson,  Professor  Hiram  :  Vocal  Culture  in  its  Relation  to 
Literary  Culture  (The  Atlantic  Monthly,  June,  1895,  p. 
810).  The  Aims  of  Literary  Study.  Macmillan  &  Co., 
New  York,  pp.  153.  Both  admirable. 
Dowden,  Professor  Edward:  The  Teaching  of  English 
Literature  (New  Studies  in  Literature,  p.  419).  London : 
Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  &  Co. 

203 


204  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Fletcher,  J.  B.,  and  Carpenter,  E.  R.  :  Introduction  to 
Theme  Writing.  Allyn  &  Bacon,  pp.  133.  For  college 
work,  but  may  be  used  with  profit  by  educated  teachers 
in  secondary  schools. 

Genung,  Professor  John  F. :  The  Study  of  Rhetoric.  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  pp.  32. 

Hall,  Dr.  G.  Stanley  :  How  to  Teach  Reading.  D.  C.  Heath 
&  Co.,  Boston,  pp.  40.     Contains  good  hints  for  teachers. 

Harris,  Dr.  W.  T. :  On  the  Correlation  of  Studies  in  Ele- 
mentary Education.  Part  Third  of  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen,  pp.  230.  Contains  excellent  dis- 
cussion of  the  educational  values  of  the  language-arts. 

Hudson,  Rev.  H.  N. :  Preface  to  Hamlet,  English  in  Schools 
(The  Merchant  of  Venice),  and  How  to  use  Shakespeare 
in  Schools  (As  You  Like  It).  These  references  are  to  the 
author's  Shakespeare  for  Use  in  Schools  and  Families. 

Huffcut,  E.  W. :  English  in  the  Preparatory  Schools.     D. 

C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  pp.  25.     A  useful  monograph. 
Laurie,  Professor,  S.  S. :  Lectures  on  Language  and  Lin- 
guistic Method  in  the  School.     Second  edition  revised. 
Edinburgh,  James  Thin ;  London,  Simpkin  &  Marshall, 
pp.  197.     The  best  book  on  the  subject  known  to  me. 

Lowell,  James  Russell:  Books  and  Libraries  (Literary 
and  Political  Addresses).  One  of  the  author's  best  es- 
says. 

Minto,  Professor  William  :  Plain  Principles  of  Prose  Com- 
position. William  Blackwood  &  Sons,  Edinburgh  and 
London,  pp.  85.     Thoroughly  sensible  and  practical. 

Morley,  John  :  On  the  Study  of  Literature.  A  university- 
extension  address  delivered  at  the  Mansion  House, 
London,  1887.  Macmillan  &  Co.,  London,  pp.  53.  Re- 
published in  Aspects  of  Modern  Study,  London,  Mac- 
millan &  Co. 

Newcomer,  A.  G.  :  A  Practical  Course  in  English  Compo- 
sition. Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  pp.  250.  This  book  is  just 
what  its  title  calls  it. 

Phillips,  J.  H. :  History  and  Literature  in  Grammar  Grades, 

D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  pp.  15. 


TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS.  205 

Scott,  Professor  F.  N.,  and  Denney,  Professor  J.  V. :  Para- 
graph Writing.  Allyn  &  Bacon,  Boston,  pp.  259.  A 
useful  treatise ;  it  makes  the  paragraph  the  unit  of  com- 
position. 

Scudder,  H.  E. :  Literature  in  the  Public  Schools  (The  At- 
lantic Monthly,  August,  1888,  p.  223). 

Spencer,  Herbert:  Philosophy  of  Style.  The  edition 
edited,  with  introduction  and  notes,  by  F.  N.  Scott,  and 
published  by  Allyn  &  Bacon,  Boston,  is  recommended. 
This  celebrated  essay,  while  not  to  be  implicitly  accepted, 
may  be  studied  to  great  advantage  by  teachers. 

Whitney,  Professor  W.  D.  :  Essentials  of  English  Gram- 
mar for  the  Use  of  Schools.  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  pp. 
260.     Admirable  for  teachers. 

Woodward,  F.  C. :  English  in  the  Schools.  D.  C.  Heath  & 
Co.,  Boston,  pp.  25.  Good  discussion  of  the  educational 
value  of  the  vernacular. 

Wright,  T.  H.:  Style.  Contained  in  Scott's  edition  of 
Spencer.    See  above. 


SYLLABUS  OF  HINSDALE'S 
TEACHING  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 


Pages  i  to  6. 

THE   SCOPE   OF   THE   PRESENT   WORK. 

i.  Murray's  Grammar,  and  the  former  state  of  things 
in  schools. 

2.  Changes  in  the  regimen  down  to  our  own  time. 

3.  Purposes  of  the  present  work. 

Pages  7  to  12. 

THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS   DEFINED. 

4.  Distinction  between  science  and  art. 
5:  The  two  aspects  of  art. 

6.  The  elementary  school  arts  enumerated. 

7.  The  language-arts  enumerated  and  characterized. 

8.  Instrumental  studies. 

Pages  12  to  21. 

THE   VERNACULAR   AS  AN   EDUCATIONAL   INSTRUMENT. 

9.  The  psychological  relation  of  language  and  thought. 

10.  The  historical  relation. 

11.  The  vernacular:  its  educational  value.     Prof.  Lau- 

rie and  Dr.  Schurman  quoted. 

Pages  21  to  26. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL. 

12.  The  child's  two  mental  possessions  when  he  enters 

the  school. 

13.  The  teacher's  twofold  work. 

207 


208  SYLLABUS   OF 

14.  The  manner  in  which   the  child    has   acquired  his 

present  possessions  to  determine  the  manner  in 
which  he  shall  acquire  his  future  possessions. 

Pages  26  to  33. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE   CHILD'S   KNOWLEDGE. 

15.  The   fundamental    facts    involved    in   our   earliest 

knowledge. 

16.  The  child's  groups  of  ideas  at  the  age  of  six. 

Pages  33  to  43. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   CHILD'S   LANGUAGE. 

17.  The  steps  to  be  taken  in  learning  to  speak. 

18.  The  function    of   imitation,   unconscious   and   con- 

scious. 

19.  Rules  do  not  appear  in  the  process. 

Pages  43  to  55. 

THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN   THE   LOWER   GRADES. 

20.  Prof.  Laurie's  analysis  of  language. 

21.  The  methods  or  devices  employed  in  teaching  the 

language-arts  in  the  lower  grades:  (1)  Conversa- 
tions; (2)  tales  and  stories;  (3)  object  lessons; 
(4)  reading  lessons;  (5)  poetical  selections  com- 
mitted to  memory  ;  (6)  written  exercises. 

22.  Remarks  following  suggestions  of  method. 

23.  The  agents  that  promote  education  in  the  vernacu- 

lar, four  in  number. 

Pages  55  to  66. 

THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS   IN   THE   HIGHER   GRADES. 

24.  The  continuity  of  mental  growth  and  teaching. 

25.  Exercises  to  be  employed  in  advanced  teaching  of 


HINSDALE'S   TEACHING   THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS.     209 

the  language-arts:  (1)  Copying  and  dictation  ex- 
ercises; (2)  composing  themes;  (3)  paraphrasing; 
(4)  imitation  of  chosen  models;  (5)  translation. 

26.  The  study  of  etymology. 

27.  The  study  of  words  as  a  source  of  history. 

28.  The  kind  of  translation  that  helps  in  English. 

Pages  66  to  71. 

THE   ART   OF    READING. 

29.  Carlyle  on  reading. 

30.  The  relation  of  the  author  to  a  composition. 

31.  The  relation  of  the  reader  to  a  composition. 

32.  Carlyle  on  the  community  of  life  between  writer  and 

reader. 
^^.  Mr.  Scudder's  use  of  Bjornson's  story. 

Pages  71  to  79. 

READING   AND    MENTAL    CULTIVATION. 

34.  The  relation  of  reading  to  the  guidance  studies. 

35.  The  relation  of  reading  to  the  disciplinary  studies. 

36.  The  relation  of  reading  to  the  culture  studies. 

37.  The  linguistic  influence  of  great  books. 

38.  The  English  use  of  the  word  "  read." 

Pages  79  to  86. 

REQUISITES    FOR    READING. 

39.  The  three  qualifications  required  to  read:  (1)  Men- 

tal preparation;  (2)  mastery  of  the  mechanism  of 
the  printed  page ;  (3)  vocal  training. 

40.  Apperception  and  reading. 

41.  The  reader  to  have  one  mental  life  with  the  writer: 

illustrations  from  Tennyson,  Macaulay,  and  Shake- 
speare. 

42.  Value  to  the  child  of  personal  contact  with  Nature. 


2IO  SYLLABUS   OF 

Pages  86  to  94. 

TEACHING   READING  AS  AN   ART. 

43.  The  child  on  reaching  the  school  to  attack  the  sym- 

bols of  the  printed  page. 

44.  To  attack  the  sounds  of  the  symbols. 

45.  To  attack  the  significance  of  the  symbols. 

46.  Elements  involved  in  reading. 

47.  Proportional  stress  to  be  laid  on  the  mechanical  and 

thought  elements  of  reading. 

48.  Imitation  the  key  word,  not  rules. 

49.  The  value  of  reading  aloud. 

Pages  94  to  112. 

TEACHING   READING  AS   THOUGHT. 

50.  Points    to    be    observed    in    teaching    reading    as 

thought:  (1)  One  phase  at  first;  (2)  differentia- 
tion; (3  and  4)  assignment  of  lessons;  (5)  prepa- 
ration of  the  lesson  in  advance;  (6)  in  higher 
work  the  teacher  to  study  occasional  lessons  with 
the  class ;  (7)  lessons  in  reading  to  be  connected 
with  other  lessons;  (8)  the  subject  of  definitions; 
(9)  the  teacher  to  question  the  class  about  the 
lesson  before  it  is  read  in  class;  (10)  summaries 
to  be  called  for. 

51.  School  readers  and  reading  lessons. 

52.  Attention  to  be  paid  to  mechanical  elements. 

53.  Exercise  I. 

54.  Exercise  II. 

Pages  1 12  to  128. 

TEACHING   COMPOSITION. 

55.  Composition  defined ;  its  relation  to  the  other  lan- 

guage-arts. 

56.  The  art  of  composition  difficult. 


HINSDALE'S   TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS.     211 

57.  Relation  of    Nature  and   practice   in   composition; 

Prof.  Minto  quoted. 

58.  The  value  of  example ;  Prof.  Minto  quoted. 

59.  Practical  directions  to  the  teacher:  (1)  Good  train- 

ing in  the  other  language-arts  required;  (2)  the 
interest  of  the  pupil  to  be  secured ;  (3)  the  choice 
of  subject  important;  (4)  the  teacher  to  choose 
subjects;  rules  to  be  observed  in  choosing;  (5) 
the  teacher  to  instruct  the  pupil  in  the  modus  of 
composition  :  the  sentence,  the  paragraph,  and  the 
essay;  (6)  outlines;  (7)  rules  and  criticisms. 

60.  Relation  of  thought-material  to  thought-expression. 

61.  Intensive  teaching:  concentration. 

62.  The  model  to  work  in  the  pupil. 

63.  Composition  a  noble  art. 

Pages  128  to  147. 

TEACHING   ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

64.  Mr.  Quick's  analysis  of  literature. 

65.  The  relation  of  matter  and  form. 

66.  Literature    presents   many    subordinate    aspects    of 

variable  value. 

67.  The  "  literature  "  to  hold  the  first  place. 

68.  Wrong  method  illustrated  by  Mr.  Verity's  "  Milton." 

69.  Mr.  Hudson  on  teaching  Shakespeare. 

70.  Room  afforded  for  a  variety  of  questions. 

71.  Intensive  and  general  study  of  compositions. 

72.  Literature  and  recitations. 

73.  Literature  and  examinations. 

74.  Haste  in  education. 

75.  The  history  of  literature. 

76.  The  choice  of  literature  suitable  to  schools. 

77.  Why  literature  should  be  taught. 

78.  Illustrative  exercise. 


212  SYLLABUS   OF 

Pages  147  to  171. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMAR. 

79.  Definitions  of  grammar,  ancient  and  modern. 

80.  The  traditionary  view  of  grammar  false. 

81.  Dr.  Fitch,  Prof.  Whitney,  and  Herbert  Spencer  quoted. 

82.  Grammar  limited  to  etymology  and  syntax. 

83.  The  causes  that  broke  down  the  scholastic  grammar 

two  in  number. 

84.  The  first  English  grammars  made  after  Latin  models. 

85.  Difference  between  the  English  and  Latin  languages. 

86.  Reasons   for  teaching   English   grammar:    (1)   The 

facts  of  language ;  (2)  the  disciplinary  value  of 
grammar;  (3)  grammar  the  logic  of  speech;  (4) 
historical  grammar;  (5)  practical  value  of  gram- 
mar; (6)  the  relation  of  grammar  to  the  vernacu- 
lar; (7)  self-criticism. 

87.  Practical  hints  and  suggestions. 

88.  Illustrative  exercise. 

Pages  171  to  185. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF    RHETORIC. 

89.  Definitions  of  rhetoric,  ancient  and  modern. 

90.  Rhetoric  embraces  three  elements :  science,  and  art 

under  its  two  aspects. 

91.  Rhetoric  as  a  philosophical  study. 

92.  Rhetoric  as  a  moral  discipline. 

93.  The  practical  value  of  the  study  of  rhetoric  consid- 

ered :  (1)  The  value  of  the  mechanical  elements,  as 
capitalization  and  punctuation  ;  (2)  the  value  of 
the  psychological  elements,  as  qualities  of  style 
and  rules  for  construction  of  sentences  and  fig- 
ures ;  (3)  Mr.  Spencer  on  Philosophy  of  Style ; 
(4)  Prof.  Minto  on  the  Office  of  Language  quoted. 


HINSDALE'S   TEACHING  THE   LANGUAGE-ARTS.     21 3 

Pages  185  to  199. 

THE   FUNCTION   OF    CRITICISM. 

94.  Criticism  as  a  practical  art. 

95.  The  three  facts  stated  out  of  which  the  practical 

problem  arises. 

96.  Practical  suggestions,  1  to  8. 

97.  The  Nature  rules  considered. 

Pages  199  to  203. 

TEACHERS  OF  THE  LANGUAGE-ARTS. 

98.  Qualifications  of  teachers  in  lower  grades. 

99.  Special  teachers  and  special  exercises. 

100.  Qualities  of  the  teacher  of  English  literature. 


THE     END. 


16 


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Blade. 

"Clearness  is  not  sacrificed  to  brevity,  and  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  political  causes  and  effects  may  be  gained  from  this 
concise  history." — New  York  Christian  Advocate. 

"A  remarkably  good  beginning  for  the  new  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury Series  of  text-books.  .  .  .  The  illustrative  feature,  and 
especially  the  maps,  have  received  the  most  careful  attention, 
and  a  minute  examination  shows  them  to  be  accurate,  truthful, 
and  illustrative." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"The  work  is  up  to  date,  and  in  accord  with  the  best  modern 
methods.  It  lays  a  foundation  upon  which  a  superstructure  of 
historical  study  of  any  extent  may  be  safely  built." — Pittsburg 
Times. 

"A  book  of  rare  excellence  and  practical  usefulness." — Salt 
Lake  Tribune. 

"The  volume  is  eminently  worthy  of  a  place  in  a  series  des- 
tined for  the  readers  of  the  coming  century.  It  is  highly 
creditable  to  the  author." — Chicago  Evening  Post. 

D.     APPLETON     AND      COMPANY,      NEW      YORK. 


LITERATURES  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Edited  by  EDMUND  GOSSE, 

Hon.  M.  A.  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

A  succession  of  attractive  volumes  dealing  with  the  history  of  literature  in 
each  country.  Each  volume  will  contain  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  i2mo 
pages,  and  will  treat  an  entire  literature,  giving  a  uniform  impression  of  its 
development,  history,  and  character,  and  of  its  relation  to  previous  and  to  con- 
temporary work. 

Each,  J2mo,  cloth,  $1,50  each. 

NOW    READY. 

Sanskrit     Literature.        By   A.   A.    Macdonell, 

M.  A.,  Deputy  Boden  Professor  of  Sanskrit  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford. 

Russian  Literature.     By  K.  Waliszewski. 

Bohemian  Literature.      By  Francis,  Count  Lutzow, 
author  of  "  Bohemia  :    An  Historical  Sketch." 

Japanese  Literature.     By  W.  G.  Aston,  C.  m.  G., 

M.  A.,  late  Acting  Sec'y  at  the  British  Legation,  T'okio. 

Spanish     Literature.       By  J.  Fitzmaurice-Kelly, 

Member  of  the  Spanish  Academy. 

Italian    Literature.     By  Richard  Garnett,  C.  B., 

LL.  D.,  Keeper  of  Printed  Books  in  the  British  Museum. 

Ancient  Greek  Literature.     By  Gilbert  Murray, 

M.  A.,  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 

French  Literature.    By  Edward  Dowden,  D.  C.  L., 

LL.  D.,  Professor  of  English  Literature  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Dublin. 

Modern  English  Literature.     By  the  Editor. 

IN    PREPARATION. 

AMERICAN    LITERATURE.      By  Prof.  W.  P.  Trent,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  South. 

GERMAN   LITERATURE. 

HUNGARIAN    LITERATURE.      By  Dr.  Zoltan   Beothy,  Professor 
of  Hungarian  Litera  ure  at  the  University  of  Budapest. 

LATIN   LITERATURE.      By  Dr.  Arthur  Woolgar-Verrall,   Fellow 
and  Senior  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

MODERN     SCANDINAVIAN     LITERATURE.        By  Dr.    Geokg 
Brandes,  of  Copenhagen. 

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nrHE  STORY  OF   WASHINGTON.      By  Eliza-= 
<*        beth  Eggleston  Seelye.     Edited  by  Dr.  Edward  Eggleston. 
With  over  ioo  Illustrations  by  Allegra  Eggleston.     A  new  vol- 
ume in  the  "  Delights  of  History  "  Series,  uniform  with  "  The 
Story  of  Columbus."     i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.75. 

"  One  of  the  best  accounts  of  the  incidents  of  Washington's  life  for  young  people." 
~~New  York  Observer. 

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this  century,  but  the  man  Washington,  with  his  defects  as  well  as  his  virtues,  his  unat- 
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Tribune. 

"  Will  be  read  with  interest  by  young  and  old.  It  is  told  with  good  taste  and  ac- 
curacy, and  if  the  first  President  loses  some  of  his  mythical  goodness  in  this  story,  the 
real  greatness  of  his  natural  character  stands  out  distinctly,  and  his  example  will  be  all 
the  more  helpful  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  this  generation." — New  York  Churchman. 

"The  book  is  just  what  has  been  needed,  the  story  of  the  life  of  Washington,  as 
well  as  of  his  public  career,  written  in  a  manner  so  interesting  that  one  who  begins 
it  will  finish,  and  so  told  that  it  will  leave  not  the  memory  of  a  few  trivial  anecdotes  by 
which  to  measure  the  man,  but  a  just  and  complete  estimate  of  him.  The  illustrations 
are  so  excellent  as  to  double  the  value  of  the  book  as  it  would'  be  without  them." — 
Chicago  Times. 

t 

*J^HE   STORY  OF  COLUMBUS.      By  Elizabeth 
-*        Eggleston  Seelye.    Edited  by  Dr.  Edward  Eggleston.    With 

100  Illustrations  by  Allegra  Eggleston.     "  Delights  of  History  " 

Series.      i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.75. 

"A  brief,  popular,  interesting,  and  yet  critical  volume,  just  such  as  we  should  wish 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  a  young  reader.  The  authors  of  this  volume  have  done  their 
best  to  keep  it  on  a  high  plane  of  accuracy  and  conscientious  work  without  losing  sight 
of  their  readers." — New  York  Independent. 

"  In  some  respects  altogether  the  best  book  that  the  Columbus  year  has  brought 
out." — Rochester  Post- Express. 

"A  simple  story  told  in  a  natural  fashion,  and  will  be  found  far  more  interesting 
than  many  of  the  more  ambitious  works  on  a  similar  theme."—  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce. 

"  This  is  no  ordinary  work.  It  is  pre-eminently  a  work  of  the  present  time  and  of» 
the  future  as  well." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  Mrs.  Seelye's  book  is  pleasing  in  its  general  effect,  and  reveals  the  results  of 
painstaking  and  conscientious  study." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  A  very  just  account  is  given  of  Columbus,  his  failings  being  neither  concealed  no* 
magnified,  but  his  real  greatness  being  made  plain." — New  York  Examiner. 

"  The  illustrations  are  particularly  well  chosen  and  neatly  executed,  and  they  add 
to  the  general  excellence  of  the  volume." — New  York  Times. 


New  York  :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


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*T*HE    HISTORICAL    REFERENCE-BOOK. 
J-       Comprising   a   Chronological    Table   of   Universal    History,    a 
Chronological  Dictionary  of  Universal  History,  a  Biographical 
Dictionary.     With  Geographical  Notes.     For  the  use  of  Stu- 
dents,  Teachers,   and  Readers.     By  Louis   Heilprin.     Fifth 
edition,   revised   to    1898.     The  Concise   Knowledge   Library. 
Uniform  with  "Natural   History"  and  " Astronomy."     Crown 
8vo.     Half  leather,  $2.00. 
"Quite  the  most  compact,  convenient,  accurate,  and  authoritative  work  of  the  kind 
in  the  language.     It  is  a  happy  combination  of  history,  biography,  and  geography,  and 
should  find  a  place  in  every  family  library,  as  well  as  at  the  elbow  of  every  scholar  and 
writer.  .  .  .  The  typography  remains  ideally  good  for  such  a  manual."—  New  York 
Evening  Post. 

"  One  of  the  most  complete,  compact,  and  valuable  works  of  reference  yet  pro- 
duced."— Troy  Daily  Times. 

"  An  invaluable  book  of  reference,  useful  alike  to  the  student  and  the  general  reader. 
The  arrangement  could  scarcely  be  better  or  more  convenient."— New  York  Herald. 
"  The  conspectus  of  the  world's  history  presented  in  the  first  part  of  the  book  is  as 
full  as  the  wisest  terseness  could  put  within  the  space." —Philadelphia  American. 

"  We  miss  hardly  anything  that  we  should  consider  desirable,  and  we  have  not 
been  able  to  detect  a  single  mistake  or  misprint." — The  Nation. 

"  So  far  as  we  have  tested  the  accuracy  of  the  present  work  we  have  found  it  with- 
out flaw." — Christian  Union. 

"  The  conspicuous  merits  of  the  work  are  condensation  and  accuracy.  These  points 
alone  should  suffice  to  give  'The  Historical  Reference- Book '  a  place  in  every  public 
and  private  library."  —Boston  Beacon. 

"The  method  of  the  tabulation  is  admirable  for  ready  reference."— New  York 
Home  Journal. 

A     CHRONOLOGICAL     TABLE    OF     UNI- 

-**-     VERSAL   HISTORY.     Extending  from  the  Earliest  Times 
to  the  Year   1892.     For  the  use  of  Students,    Teachers,   and 
Readers.     By   Louis    Heilprin.     i2mo,     200    pages.     Cloth, 
$1.25. 
This  is  one  of  the  three  sections  comprised  in  "The  Historical  Reference- 
Book,"  bound  separately  for  convenience  of  those  who  may  not  require  the 
entire  volume.     Its  arrangement  is  chronological,  each  paragraph  giving, 
in  briefest  practicable  form,  an  outline  of  the  principal  events  of  the  year 
designated  in  the  margin. 

D,  APPLETON   AND   COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


D.  APPLETON   AND  COMPANY'S   PUBLICATIONS. 


"  No  library  of  military  literature  that  has  appeared  in  recent  years  has  been  so  in- 
structive to  readers  of  all  kinds  as  the  Great  Commanders  Series,  which  is  edited  by 
General  James  Grant  Wilson." — New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

f^REAT   COMMANDERS.       A    Series    of   Brief 

^-^      Biographies    of    Illustrious    Americans.      Edited    by    General 

James  Grant  Wilson.     i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.50  per  volume. 

This  series  forms  one  of  the  most  notable  collections  of  books  that  has 
been  published  for  many  years.  The  success  it  has  met  with  since  the  first 
volume  was  issued,  and  the  widespread  attention  it  has  attracted,  indicate  that 
it  has  satisfactorily  fulfilled  its  purpose,  viz.,  to  provide  in  a  popular  form  and 
moderate  compass  the  records  of  the  lives  of  men  who  have  been  conspicu- 
ously eminent  in  the  great  conflicts  that  established  American  independence 
and  maintained  our  national  integrity  and  unity.  Each  biography  has  been 
written  by  an  author  especially  well  qualified  for  the  task,  and  the  result  is 
not  only  a  series  of  fascinating  stories  of  the  lives  and  deeds  of  great  men, 
but  a  rich  mine  of  valuable  information  for  the  student  of  American  history 
and  biography. 

The  volumes  of  this  series  thus  far  issued,  all  of  which  have  received  the 
highest  commendation  from  authoritative  journals,  are  : 

ADMIRAL  FARRAGUT.     By  Captain  A.  T.  Mahan,  U.  S.  N. 
GENERAL  TAYLOR.     By  General  O.  O.  Howard,  U.  S.  A. 
GENERAL  JACKSON.     By  James  Parton. 
GENERAL  GREENE.     By  General  Francis  V.  Greene. 
GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON.    By  Robert  M.  Hughes,  of  Va. 
GENERAL  THOMAS.     By  Henry  Coppee,  LL.  D. 
GENERAL  SCOTT.     By  General  Marcus  J.  Wright. 
GENERAL  WASHINGTON.     By  Gen.  Bradley  T.  Johnson. 
GENERAL  LEE.     By  General  Fitzhugh  Lee. 
GENERAL  HANCOCK.     By  General  Francis  A.  Walker. 
GENERAL  SHERIDAN.     By  General  Henry  E.  Davies. 
GENERAL  GRANT.     By  General  James  Grant  Wilson. 
GENERAL  SHERMAN.     By  General  Manning  F.  Force. 

These  are  volumes  of  especial  value  and  service  to  school  libraries,  either 
for  reference  or  for  supplementary  reading  in  history  classes.  Libraries, 
whether  public,  private,  or  school,  that  have  not  already  taken  necessary 
action,  should  at  once  place  upon  their  order  lists  the  Great  Commanders 
Series. 

The  following  are  in  press  or  in  preparation  : 
General  Meade.     By  Isaac  R.  Pennypacker. 
Commodore  Paul  Jones.     By  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady. 
General  McClellan.     By  General  Peter  S.  Michie. 
Admiral  Porter.     By  James  R.  Soley,  late  Ass't  Sec'y  U.  S.  Navy. 
General  Forrest.     By  Captain  J.  Harvey  Mathes. 

D.  APPLETON    AND   COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


T 


D.   APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

HE  PRESIDENTS  OE  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  1789-1894.  By  John  Fiske,  Carl  Schurz,  Wil- 
liam E.  Russell,  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  William  Walter 
Phelps,  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  George  Bancroft,  John 
Hay,  and  Others.  Edited  by  Gen.  James  Grant  Wilson. 
With  23  Steel  Portraits,  facsimile  Letters,  and  other  lllustra- 
tions.     8vo.     Cloth,  $3.50. 

"  A  book  which  every  one  should  read  over  and  over  again.  .  .  .  We  have  care- 
fully run  through  it,  and  laid  it  down  with  the  feeling  that  some  such  book  ought  to 
find  its  way  into  every  household." — New  York  Herald. 

"  A  monumental  volume,  which  no  American  who  cares  for  the  memory  of  the  pub- 
lic men  of  his  country  can  afford  to  be  without."—  New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  Just  the  sort  of  book  that  the  American  who  wishes  to  fix  in  his  mind  the  vary- 
ing phases  of  his  country's  history  as  it  is  woven  on  the  warp  of  the  administrations 
will  find  most  useful.  Everything  is  presented  in  a  clear-cut  way,  and  no  pleasanter 
excursions  into  history  can  be  found  than  a  study  of  '  The  Presidents  of  the  United 
States.'  " — Philadelphia  Press. 

"A  valuable  addition  to  both  our  biographical  and  historical  literature,  and  meets  a 
want  long  recognized." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"  So  scholarly  and  entertaining  a  presidential  biography  has  never  before  appeared 
in  this  country.  ...  It  is  bound  to  become  the  standard  of  its  kind." — Binghamton 
Herald. 

"  It  is  precisely  the  book  which  ought  to  have  a  very  wide  sale  in  this  country—  a 
book  which  one  needs  to  own  rather  than  to  read  and  lay  aside.  No  common-school 
library  or  collection  of  books  for  young  readers  should  be  without  it." — The  Church- 
man. 

"  General  Wilson  has  performed  a  public  service  in  presenting  this  volume  to  the 
public  in  so  attractive  a  shape.  It  is  full  of  incentive  to  ambitious  youth  ;  it  abounds 
in  encouragement  to  every  patriotic  heart." — Charleston  News  and  Courier. 

"  There  is  an  added  value  to  this  volume  because  of  the  fact  that  the  story  of  the 
life  of  each  occupant  of  the  White  House  was  written  by  one  who  made  a  special  study 
of  him  and  his  times.  .  .  .  An  admirable  history  for  the  young." — Chicago  Times. 

"  Such  a  work  as  this  can  not  fail  to  appeal  to  the  pride  of  patriotic  Americans." — 
Chicago  Dial. 

"  These  names  are  in  themselves  sufficient  to  guarantee  adequacy  of  treatment  and 
interest  in  the  presentation,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  such  succinct  biographies  of  the 
complete  portrait  gallery  of  our  Presidents,  written  with  such  unquestioned  ability, 
have  never  before  been  published." — Hartford  Courant. 

"  A  book  well  worth  owning,  for  reading  and  for  reference.  ...  A  complete  record 
bf  the  most  important  events  in  our  history  during  the  past  one  hundred  and  five  years." 
—  The  Outlook.  

New  York :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


D.  APPLETON  &   CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN:   The  True  Story  of  a  Great 

•**■    LIFE.     By  William   H.    Herndon   and  Jesse   W.   Weik. 

With  numerous  Illustrations.     New  and  revised  edition,  with 

an  introduction  by  Horace  White.     In  two  volumes.     i2mo. 

Cloth,  $3.00. 

This  is  probably  the  most  intimate  life  of  Lincoln  ever  written.  The 
^book,  by  Lincoln's  law-partner,  William  H.  Herndon,  and  his  friend  Jesse 
w.  Weik,  shows  us  Lincoln  the  man.  It  is  a  true  picture  of  his  surround- 
ings and  influences  and  acts.  It  is  not  an  attempt  to  construct  a  political 
history,  with  Lincoln  often  in  the  background,  nor  is  it  an  effort  to  apotheo- 
size the  American  who  stands  first  in  our  history  next  4^  Washington.  The 
writers  knew  Lincoln  intimately.  Their  book  is  the  result  of  unreserved 
association.  There  is  no  attempt  to  portray  the  man  as  other  than  he  really 
was,  and  on  this  account  their  frank  testimony  must  be  accepted,  and  their 
biography  must  take  permanent  rank  as  the  best  and  most  illuminating  study 
of  Lincoln's  character  and  personality.  Their  story,  simply  told,  relieved 
by  characteristic  anecdotes,  and  vivid  with  local  color,  will  be  found  a  fasci- 
nating work. 

"Truly,  they  who  wish  to  know  Lincoln  as  he  really  was  must  read  the  biography 
of  him  written  by  his  friend  and  law-partner,  W.  H.  Herndon.  This  book  was  im- 
peratively needed  to  brush  aside  the  rank  growth  of  myth  and  legend  which  was 
threatening  to  hide  the  real  lineaments  of  Lincoln  from  the  eyes  of  posterity.  On  one 
pretext  or  another,  but  usually  upon  the  plea  that  he  was  the  central  figure  of  a  great 
historical  picture,  most  of  his  self-appointed  biographers  have,  by  suppressing  a  part 
of  the  truth  and  magnifying  or  embellishing  the  rest,  produced  portraits  which  those  of 
Lincoln's  contemporaries  who  knew  him  best  are  scarcely  able  to  recognize.  There  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  no  doubt  about  the  faithfulness  of  Mr.  Herndon's  delineation.  The 
marks  of  unflinching  veracity  are  patent  in  every  line." — New  York  Sttn. 

"Among  the  books  which  ought  most  emphatically  to  have  been  written  must  be 
classed  'Herndon's  Lincoln.'" — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"  The  author  has  his  own  notion  of  what  a  biography  should  be,  and  it  is  simple 
enough.  The  story  should  tell  all,  plainly  and  even  bluntly.  Mr.  Herndon  is  naturally 
a  very  direct  writer,  and  he  has  been  industrious  in  gathering  material.  Whether  an 
incident  happened  before  or  behind  the  scenes,  is  all  the  same  to  him.  He  gives  it 
without  artifice  or  apology.  He  describes  the  life  of  his  friend  Lincoln  just  as  he  saw 
it."  —  Cincinnati  Commercial  Gazette. 

"  A  remarkable  piece  of  literary  achievement— remarkable  alike  for  its  fidelity  to 
facts,  its  fullness  of  details,  its  constructive  skill,  and  its  literary  charm." — New  York 
Times. 

"  It  will  always  remain  the  authentic  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln." — Chicago  Herald. 

"The  book  is  a  valuable  depository  of  anecdotes,  innumerable  and  characteristic. 
It  has  every  claim  to  the  proud  boast  of  being  the  '  true  story  of  a  great  life.'  " — Phila- 
delphia Ledger. 

"Will  be  accepted  as  the  best  biography  yet  written  of  the  great  President." — 
Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"  Mr.  White  claims  that,  as  a  portraiture  of  the  man  Lincoln,  Mr.  Herndon's  work 
e  will  never  be  surpassed.'  Certainly  it  has  never  been  equaled  yet,  and  this  new  edi- 
tion is  all  that  could  be  desired." — New  York  Observer. 

"The  three  portraits  of  Lincoln  are  the  best  that  exist ;  and  not  the  least  charac- 
teristic of  these,  the  Lincoln  of  the  Douglas  debates,  has  never  before  been  engraved. 
.  .  .  Herndon's  narrative  gives,  as  nothing  else  is  likely  to  give,  the  material  from 
which  we  may  form  a  true  picture  of  the  man  from  infancy  to  maturity." — The  Nation. 


New  York  :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO..  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


TWENTIETH   CENTURY   TEXT-BOOKS* 


NOW     READY. 

Plant  Relations. 

A  First  Book  of  Botany.  By  John  Merle  Coulter,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Head  of  De- 
partment of  Botany,  University  of  Chicago.     i2H)o.     Cloth,  $I.IO. 

Plant  Structures. 

A  Second  Book  of  Botany.  By  John  Merle  Coulter,  A.  M  ,  Ph.  D.  121110. 
(Jloth,  $1.20. 

Plant  Studies. 

An  Elementary  Botany.     By  John  M.  Coulter,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.    121110.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

Plants. 
A  Text  Book    of  Botany.      By  John    Merle    Coulter,   A.  M.,   Ph.  D.      i2mo. 
Cloth,  $1.80. 

A  History  of  the  American  Nation. 

By  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin,  A.  M.,  LL.  B.,  University  of  Michigan,  umo. 
Cloth,  $1.40. 

English  Texts.     i2mo.     Cloth,  50  cents  ;  boards,  40  cents. 

Dryden's  Palamon  and  Arcite. 

Edited  by  George  M.  Marshall,  Ph.  B.,  University  of  Utah. 
Shakspere's  Macbeth. 

Edited  by  Richard  Jones,  Ph.  D.,  Vanderbilt  University. 
The  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  Papers. 

Edited  by  Franklin  T.  Bakek,  A.  M.,  Columbia  University,  and  Richard 

Jones,  Ph.  D. 
Selections  from  Milton's  Shorter  Poems. 

Edited  by  Frederic  D.  Nichols,  University  of  Chicago. 
Macaulay's  Essays  on  Milton  and  Addison. 

Edited  by  Geokge  B.   Aiton,  A.  M.,  State  Supervisor  of  High  Schools, 

Minnesota. 
Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America. 

Edited  by  William  I.  Crane,  Steele  High  School,  Dayton,  Ohio. 
Coleridge's  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner. 

Edited  by  Pelham  Edgar,  B.  A.,  Ph.  D.,  Victoria  College. 
George  Eliot's  Silas  Marner. 

Edited  by  J.  Rose  Colby,  Ph.  D.,  Illinois  State  Normal  University,  and 

Richard  Jones,  Ph.  D.     Cloth,  60  cents;  boards,  45  cents. 

Animal  Life. 

A  First  Book  of  Zoology.  By  David  S.  Jordan,  M.  S.,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D., 
President  of  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University,  and  Vernon  L.  Kellogg,  M.  S., 
Leland  Stanford  Junior  University.     i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.20. 

The  Elements  of  Physics. 

By  C.  Hanford  Henderson,  Ph.  D.,  Principal  of  Pratt  High  School,  Brooklyn, 
and  John  F.  Woodhull,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Physical  Science,  Teachers'  College, 
Columbia  University. 

Physical  Experiments. 

A  Laboratory  Manual.  By  John  F.  Woodhull,  Ph.  D.,  and  M.  B.  Van  Arsdale,  In- 
structor in  Physical  Science  in  Horace  Mann  School  and  Assistant  in  Teachers'  College. 

The  Elementary  Principles  of  Chemistry. 

By  Abram  Van  Eps  Young,  Ph.  B.,  Northwestern  University.  Evanston,  111. 

D~      APPLKTON      AND      COMPANY,      NEW     YORK. 


APPLETONS'  HOME-READING  BOOKS* 

Edited  by  W.  T.  HARRIS,  A.  M.,  LL»  D„  U.  S.  Commissioner 

of  Education. 


CLASSED   IN   FOUR    DIVISIONS,    AS   FOLLOWS  : 

The  First  comprises  natural  history,  including  popular  treatises  on  plants  and  ani- 
mals, and  also  descriptions  of  geographical  localities,  all  of  which  pertain  to  the  study 
of  geography  in  the  common  schools.  Descriptive  astronomy,  and  anything  that  relates 
to  organic  Nature,  comes  under  this  head. 

The  Second  includes  whatever  relates  to  natural  philosophy,  statics,  dynamics, 
properties  of  matter,  and  chemistry,  organic  and  inorganic. 

The  Third  covers  history,  biography,  ethnology,  ethics,  civics,  and  all  that  relates 
to  the  lives  of  individuals  or  of  nations. 

The  Fourth,  works  of  general  literature  that  portray  human  nature  in  the  form 
of  feelings,  emotions,  and  the  various  expressions  of  art  and  music. 

Net. 

The  Story  of  the  Birds.     J.  N.   Baskett $0.65 

The  Story  of  the  Fishes.     J.  N.  Baskett 75 

The  Plant  World.     Frank  Vincent 60 

The  Animal  World.     Frank  Vincent 60 

The  Insect  World.     C.  M.  Weed 60 

The  Story  of  Oliver  Twist.     Ella  B.  Kirk 60 

The  Story  of  Rob  Roy.     Edith  T.  Harris 60 

In  Brook  and  Bayou.     Clara  Kern  Bayliss 60 

Curious  Homes  and  their  Tenants.     James  Carter  Beard         .        .        .65 

Crusoe's  Island.     F.  A.  Ober 65 

Uncle  Sam's  Secrets.     O.  P.  Austin 75 

The  Hall  of  Shells.     Mrs.  A.  S.  Hardy 60 

Nature  Study  Readers.     J.  W.   Troeger. 

Harold's  First  Discoveries.     Book  I 25 

Harold's  Rambles.     Book  II 40 

Harold's  Quests.     Book  III 50 

Harold's  Explorations.     Book  IV 

Harold's  Discussions.     Book  V 

Uncle  Robert's  Geography.     Francis  W.   Parker  and 
Nellie  L.  Helm. 

Playtime  and  Seedtime.     Book  I 32 

On  the  Farm.     Book  II         . 42 

Uncle  Robert's  Visit.     Book  III 50 

Rivers  and  Winds.     Book  IV 

Mountain,  Plain,  and  Desert.     Book  V 

Our  Own  Continent.     Book  VI 

News  from  the  Birds.     Leander  S.  Keyser fo 

Historic   Boston  and  its  Neighborhood.     Edward  Everett  Hale     .        .50 

The  Earth  and  Sky.     Edward  S.  Holden 28 

The  Family  of  the  Sun.     Edward  S.  Holden  .         ....        .50 

Stories  of  the  Great  Astronomers.     Edward  S.  Holden      ...        .75 

About  the  Weather.     Mark  W.  Harrington    ....  .        .65 

Stories  from  the  Arabian  Nights.     Adam  Singleton 65 

Our  Country's  Flag  and  the  Flags  of  Foreign  Countries.     Edward 

S.  Holden 80 

Our  Navy  in  Time  of  War.     Franklin  Matthews  ^5 

The  Chronicles  of  Sir  John  Froissart.     Adam  Singleton  .        .65 

The  Storied  West  Indies.     F.  A.  Ober 75 

Uncle  Sam's  Soldiers.     O.  P.  Austin 75 

Others  in  preparation. 
D.     APPLETON     AND     COMPANY,     NEW     YORK. 


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